Hollowbody

Looking at the Twitter landscape (at the good stuff … not the bad stuff), you can see many indie darlings in the making. And horror games are thriving. This year alone has been incredible for indie horror games, with the likes of Conscript, and Crow Country. And now after 3 years of development, the Cyberpunk Survival Horror, Hollowbody is finally out. The single development project has been on every horror fan's radar, and now we can finally see the fruits of Headware Games’ labour.

What is Hollowbody?

Hollowbody is a “Tech-Noir” survival horror game, set in the distant future where the British Isles have suffered from a devastating viral outbreak, which has killed off most of the population. And of course, the social elites, and the ultra-rich built a mega city floating on the ocean to be as far away and shielded from the dying cries, and the madness that would engulf old Blighty.

Years later, after walling off the major cities and developing exclusion zones, people have returned to research the isles to find answers. One such researcher is Sasha, who goes missing upon one of her expeditions. Back home, her partner Mica, a smuggler who often ventures into the isles, is worried sick and decides to take matters into her own hands.

Travelling to the last place Sasha was known to be, Mica ventures to the British coast but her vehicle becomes in-mobile, leaving her stranded within the decaying, sorrow-riddled exclusion zone. She must fight through proper British weather (grey, cloudy, and utterly wet), and other things just as terrifying to find Sasha.

Rediscover a long-forgotten world once proud and beautiful, which is now dead, and rotting into your own personal Hell. Fixed camera angles, limited resources, spooky deformities lurking around every dark corner, and a frightening creepiness that will chill you to the bone.

In my restless dreams, I see that town. British town

I admire how familiar yet refreshing Hollowbody is, mashing up cool themes, and vibes and doesn't amount to simply a RE clone. Many games focus on cloning Resident Evil or focusing on P.T. still. But not many have tried and replicated the style and vibes of the classic Silent Hill series, and for good reason, as Silent Hill is a juggernaut in emotional, compelling, story-driven horror gravitas. And Hollowbody does a damn good job at capturing that same tone, and style through its story, art, and gameplay nearly masterfully.

I say near, as ultimately something didn’t connect during my playthroughs. But what works does so incredibly well.
The story takes us across a large fictional suburban area near Bristol (or so I believe). We see a proper residential landscape that was once thriving with working-class people, families, and everyday British folk, which is not rotting away into utter decay. After a bio-terror attack that killed off most of the population, the higher rankings of society decided to flee, build a new city, and start again. Leaving everyone breathing and poor to fend for themselves, either to die of the virus or by each other. As you can imagine, and seeing what remains of Britain, the remaining population didn’t make it.

Mica has to traverse the unnerving remnants of the past, from a council estate, residential suburb, and other staples of a certain horror series, including spooky churches, nasty sewers, and a spooky train station. It’s all here and in every location, and stepping through the decaying British city is quite wonderous and incredibly haunting at the same time. Writing this as a Brit, and having seen things like Covid come about, Hollowbody is harrowingly effective. But even if you’re not a Brit, you will be spooked.

Hollowbody is all about atmosphere, rather than jump scares, and the tension is never-ending, especially when your radio gives off static when enemies are nearby. This is an unnerving game, and while there are not any jumpscares, there are moments which leave me utterly chilled. A certain sewer section in particular had me in cold sweats.
The camera work is set brilliantly, with excellent framing, for a cinematic effect most of the time. However, the camera in several outdoor scenes is zoomed way out making it extremely difficult to find some items.

The visual style, environmental design and grittiness are spot-on for a great PS2 horror game. Hollowbody simply looks and sounds amazing. I love the voice work for Mica and the supporting cast, who give professional performances that offer a slight uncanniness to their tone (like the Silent Hill games). The music is minimal in an effective way to build dread and sense of dark surrealism. The only thing I wasn’t a massive fan of was the creature designs. They’re not bad at all, they’re just very similar to what we’ve seen before. Even the main boss looked like it was from another game. Like it was from an Xbox 360 Red Faction game.

That aside, Hollowbody is without a shadow of a doubt unbelievable when it comes to the presentation and horror elements. There’s the same vibe, and chilling nature to the world, that left me constantly looking over my shoulder and wondering what lurked in the darkness. It’s visually amazing, especially when since this is a solo dev project.

A Horror tale filled with mystery … maybe a little too much mystery

As for the narrative, Hollowbody is rather interesting for good and bad, and I will give merit for how it merges Tech-Noir, Silent Hill, and Lovecraftian elements for compelling world design. Mica’s story is a gripping one, following her through ruins, fighting monsters literally and metaphorically, and coming to terms with the notion that everyone experiences loss, particularly with their loved ones. And I gaged the theme here is loss, loss of love, family, home, and hope as that’s there is a general vibe in the documents and messages you uncover detailing a crumbling society where the elites piss on everyone below them, families breaking apart, and loved one exiting life on their terms.
Typical everyday stuff in Britain now sadly.

And the emotional factors here with Mica, discovering the long-forgotten past through torn-up notes, echoes of voices on your radio, and the stats from the many decaying bodies you pass all paint a grim picture of a ruthless world order that has no care for the everyday. There’s a lot of heavy stuff here, and we feel it, we feel the burden and blight Mica faces, and while she does face monsters, there are many grounded horrors we can all relate to.

And the plot is a solid one, that takes us through some interesting places, partake in some horrific events, and come to a compelling conclusion that utterly stuck with me on how freaky it was… But overall, the narrative is very “loose” and I didn’t get a full picture by the end.

I get it, Silent Hill always left intentional gaps, and spaces for interpretation. But you always had the logic and connecting dots to understand the bigger picture and knew why everything was happening. There are several plot elements in Hollowbody which are something by themselves, but when put together, they don’t collide, nor do they work into something coherent.

There’s talk of a terrorist attack, which is the catalyst for the way the world is, but it’s never brought up again, nor connects to anything else in the game’s narrative. The monsters are either a result of that or, the things which you encounter in the late game. The late game has multiple elements/characters which are never fully explored nor make sense among other story elements. There is stuff relating to shady property deals and takeovers which feel more thematic than a practical narrative element.

For a narrative with so many links and influences, not a whole lot ever links up, and while it never truly felt broken, I was left with questions but not in a good way.

However, somewhat of a silver lining here – Hollowbody I praise for telling a story without giving us dozens and dozens of notes and documents. And everything here I read felt important. Thank you!

There are multiple endings, and I believe there is one final ending I’ve not come across (like many others it seems) which could be the “True” ending. However, the means to get this ending don’t seem to be in place now, and I (along with other people) have tried to do it and it’s not possible (for now). So, there could be a massive revelation that links everything up, yet that aside, the narrative and various components just don’t appear they could merge, unless there is some damn good writing hidden away. Various story elements are complete opposites, seemingly unable to sync up naturally.

Feels like a rare, lost PS2 game rediscovered (Not Rule of Rose)

The presentation and horror vibing are nailed in Hollowbody, but what about the gameplay? Well, it excels in capturing and even elevating the traditional survival horror format.

Players will deal with limited resources, a gruelling and hostile environment where critical thinking, fast decision making, and taking risks such as using melee combat on one enemy to save vital ammunition on something later that could be much more dangerous. Hollowbody also has puzzles, manual saving, and plenty of backtracking to keep you invested in the world and core gameplay. It’s all handled terrifically, as exploration and a keen eye are needed for finding items, but also might provide a lot of dead ends, making your decision to venture out even more risky, especially if you have to evade or deal with enemies directly.

The puzzles are decent overall, with there being one stand-out puzzle at the beginning, which I had hoped would see a comeback in some form later on. But most of them are fairly straightforward collect items, put them in the right place, and move on. And there are a couple of moments like Silent Hill 3’s nail vanish puzzle, where you have to use a random everyday item to unblock a path. Overall not amazing, but a decent selection of puzzles.

Combat is tooth and nail clunky, and janky in a good way, as melee combat is to the point but does require you to get up and close, meaning certain death is around the corner if you’re not careful. And Hollowbody can be brutal even on the intended difficulty, where enemies can end you within a couple of direct hits. Firearms are effective, but as you may guess ammo is limited. Although I never found myself lacking entirely, as for the first third I solely used melee, and this saved plenty of ammo but used up more health than I liked. Still, I felt on the two lower difficulties, resources were very fair, but there is a truly punishing mode for those looking for a hardcore survival horror experience. This also adds in a new mechanic where bodies need to be burned for them to stay down.

And this brings me to a point where I feel Hollowbody excels, and that’s with unlockable content. Finishing the game once, or multiple times does reward you with new modes, and extras, including a First-Person mode for the campaign. This stuff is fantastic and should be a staple in the genre again and for gaming.

My only downside for Hollowbody was the jank .. the unintentional kind. Wow, while nothing was game-breaking, there was plenty of clipping, wonky camera changes, and other small but noticeable impairments that, like I said didn’t break anything, but did kill the immersion to the point where I laughed out loud.

I also hated one section, which felt like padding near the end, and just didn’t work as well as the developer thought it might. Or it’s there to add 30 minutes to the run time. Especially as the enemy count and dog enemies were in the dozens. It was a pain to say the least.

For all that said, Hollowbody is a triumph for its survival horror gameplay, and excellent execution of the genre-defining tropes and aesthetics, especially as this is a solo dev project.

Overall?

Survival horror fans have been eating well in 2024, and frankly for the last few years. With the horizon looking ever brighter for the genre, and it’s thanks to games like Hollowbody this can happen. And be inspirational for many others to go out and develop their survival horror games.

Hollowbody, regardless of some noticeable flaws, is a mega achievement for gaming as a whole. Hollowbody nails the Silent Hill vibes, producing an utter dread-inducing atmosphere, tension-riddled exploration, and unsettling creepiness that will stay with you after turning off the PC. But it also has a brilliant understanding of resource management, intense brutal combat, and lateral thinking, which are executed effectively.

The developer should be immensely proud of their work, as Hollowbody stands as a fantastic reminder that survival horror is not dead, and with hard work and passion, anyone can create an exceptional gaming experience, like Hollowbody.

++ Great world-building and aesthetics
++ Compelling survival horror gameplay and Silent Hill vibes
++ Incredible presentation
+ Lots of great additional content

-- Fair amount of jank that’s noticeable
-The story has many loose ends … but maybe a secret ending which no man has got will answer all the questions? … Unlikely but possible.
- Some annoying gauntlet sections which feel like padding.

The publisher kindly provided a review code of Hollowbody.