It’s almost Halloween and that means it’s almost time to play some scary games or watch some scary movies! But what if you could do both at the same time? Enter The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope, a new horror game that feels more like an interactive horror movie where your choices affect the story and outcome of your characters. Switch off the lights, turn up the volume, and prepare for a thrilling journey to the town of Little Hope.
The Dark Pictures Anthology
Little Hope is the second entry in The Dark Pictures franchise, a franchise that’s all about delivering extremely thrilling horror stories. Some of you might remember Man of Medan which was the first entry in the new interactive horror experience. Where Man of Medan had you explore a ghost ship, Little Hope takes you back to the shore of a mysterious small town covered in mist. The story stands completely on its own so you can easily start your adventures in The Dark Pictures with this one. During your quest, you’re tasked to guide a group of students and their professor through the mysterious town where things aren’t always what they seem. It’s a thrilling adventure filled with mysteries, secrets, and choices. But beware of the consequences of your choices! One wrong move and you’ll lose one of your protagonists. Do you have what it takes to make it out alive?
Tortured by the past
Little Hope starts as a rather traditional horror story set in a mysterious little town that’s surrounded by a supernatural mist. Needless to say, trying to escape the town by walking through the mist doesn’t work as our group is clearly trapped in town until they reach the end of their quest. It’s a traditional story at first but things change when the past gets interwoven with the present. Without spoiling the actual story, you’ll often travel between past and present to discover the truth behind the town’s macabre history and the faith of your characters. The story and its plot twists are the real beating heart of the game so I won’t go into full details here. It’s a story that’s constantly evolving and one that will eventually end in a truly unexpected finale. The best thing about it is the fact that the story can be different for everyone. During my first playthrough, I was able to keep everyone in the group alive. A second playthrough quickly demonstrated that different choices led to drastically different outcomes. It really depends on the input and even the nature of the human player, so you’re never really sure how your journey in Little Hope will end. One thing’s for sure, I did enjoy this story a lot more than it did in Man of Medan. The story is Little Hope is far more thrilling, far more emotional, and far more mysterious. The way both stories of the past and present unfold feels like one of the better plots for a horror movie, which is a huge compliment for a game like this.
Shared custody
Exploring the story on your own is extremely thrilling and rewarding in the end but you can also play it together with other players. One of the options is to go for a virtual movie night where you pass around the controller (up to five players) and share the custody over the playable characters by making important decisions in turns. This makes it even more unpredictable as it’s hard to imagine how your friends will react to the unfolding events and the moral dilemmas. If you want, you can also play the game online with another player which makes it even more difficult to guess the outcome. It’s a fun element to have in a horror game like this but in all honesty, I enjoyed playing it on my own the most, as I was the only one responsible for my choices and its consequences. If you play on your own, I would strongly advice to play it with headphones and in a dark room as this will drastically elevate the horror experience. But, it’s entirely up to you to decide how you’ll explore Little Hope. Due to the state of the world right now, it might offer a fun alternative to a classic horror night with your roommates. The thrilling story won’t disappoint!
The technical side of the game
Now, compared to Man of Medan, Little of Hope follows the same pattern and formula but also improved on a lot of small things, drastically improving the quality of this second entry. First things first, it’s clear to see the team worked hard on the facial expressions and overall animations of the characters. It feels a lot more realistic and the emotions are a lot more believable this time around. It’s not perfect just yet but there’s certainly a lot of improvement already. Besides that, the team also worked on the camera angles, often switching between a set camera and a free-roaming one during the more open segments of the game. It’s still a very guided and cinematic experience, so not all camera angles work well in combination with the controls but globally, it did deliver and elevate the suspense.
It’s clear that the team listened carefully to the community and tried to fix a lot of things that could have been done better in Man of Medan. From a faster walking pace to warnings when a Quicktime-Event will be triggered, it’s all added to Little Hope to make it a way smoother experience than Man of Medan. I must say, those small improvements really worked and benefited the overall horror experience. Unlike Man of Medan, I never made a choice I didn’t want to make due to unprecise controls. This one offers a far better experience although there’s still room for improvement. The biggest issue I had was the actual darkness of the world, making it barely unplayable during the daytime. This is a very, very, dark game so you better play this in absolute darkness if you want to experience it at its full potential. This in combination with some technical hiccups did take me out of the moment from time to time but overall, it’s a major improvement compared to the first version of Man of Medan.
Conclusion:
Just like the previous entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology, Little Hope is more an interactive movie than it is a game, but that’s nothing to worry about if you’re looking for a thrilling horror experience this Halloween. The team really listed to the community’s feedack and improved a lot of things in Little Hope, making this a smoother, more thrilling, and above all more interestering horror story than Man of Medan. If you’re looking for a spooky evening, this is the one you should play, but be aware of your choices as everything comes at a price!