House of Ashes isn't perfect, but Supermassive's efforts have paid off. This is their best game in the anthology by far, as well as their best game since Until Dawn.
While Man of Medan and Little Hope, Supermassive's previous outings in its Dark Pictures Anthology, proved to be good games in their own right, they were dragged down by nagging flaws like their infamous twists that the threat were just hallucinations and nothing more. House of Ashes, their newest entry, does away with this twist and introduces real monsters for the first time. As such, the action setpieces are the best Supermassive has made since Until Dawn.
The characters are the best and most human characters Supermassive has written, too.
Rachel King, the ex-girlfriend of fellow playable character Eric King, is a girl who aims to be independent, while also being caught up in a relationship with Nick Kay, who is also playable.
Nick himself is a strong and somewhat sensitive man, who is great to have around when the action gets hot, but is traumatized by an incident that predates the game by 3 weeks. As such, he's a bit of a Cowardly Lion.
Eric King is The Leader of the American unit as the Colonel, who suspects that Saddam is hiding chemical weapons in Iraq, and sends the squad there to kick the plot in motion. His duties as Colonel clash at times with his desire to get Rachel back, which forms a large part of the game.
Jason Kolchek, The Big Guy, is a racially prejudiced man against Iraqis. He also is one of the coldest and most verbally rough members of the main cast, with his Sir Swears-a-Lot dialogue, and cold talks toward Nick of the aforementioned incident. Through some later Character Development, he can end up a bit nicer than before.
Finally, there is Salim Othman, the token Iraqi of the cast. As a sympathetic family man, he wants no part in the war and just wants to see his son on his birthday. However, his duties as a soldier and situation with the American cast force him to take part in this nightmare. As an Action Dad, he is one of the most proactive members of the cast, and tries to form a friendship with the untrusting Americans.
The walking speeds are greatly improved, as it takes a much shorter time to collect clues, such as the story of Randolph Hodgson accompanied by cinematics. The variation of the game, while faltering a bit near the end, is a very welcome improvement from Little Hope.
The difficulty setting is perhaps the best improvement, as the complaints of QTE's being too hard in Medan and too easy in Hope are addressed and remedied. The new setting allows warnings for all types of QTE's, warnings for some types of QTE's and not others, or no warnings whatsoever.
The graphics are good as always, and the music is great.
Overall, a solid game and the best game in The Dark Pictures Anthology. There are faults, but they don't drag the game down too much.
VideoGame (Spoilers) The best game in the anthology so far
House of Ashes isn't perfect, but Supermassive's efforts have paid off. This is their best game in the anthology by far, as well as their best game since Until Dawn.
While Man of Medan and Little Hope, Supermassive's previous outings in its Dark Pictures Anthology, proved to be good games in their own right, they were dragged down by nagging flaws like their infamous twists that the threat were just hallucinations and nothing more. House of Ashes, their newest entry, does away with this twist and introduces real monsters for the first time. As such, the action setpieces are the best Supermassive has made since Until Dawn.
The characters are the best and most human characters Supermassive has written, too.
Rachel King, the ex-girlfriend of fellow playable character Eric King, is a girl who aims to be independent, while also being caught up in a relationship with Nick Kay, who is also playable.
Nick himself is a strong and somewhat sensitive man, who is great to have around when the action gets hot, but is traumatized by an incident that predates the game by 3 weeks. As such, he's a bit of a Cowardly Lion.
Eric King is The Leader of the American unit as the Colonel, who suspects that Saddam is hiding chemical weapons in Iraq, and sends the squad there to kick the plot in motion. His duties as Colonel clash at times with his desire to get Rachel back, which forms a large part of the game.
Jason Kolchek, The Big Guy, is a racially prejudiced man against Iraqis. He also is one of the coldest and most verbally rough members of the main cast, with his Sir Swears-a-Lot dialogue, and cold talks toward Nick of the aforementioned incident. Through some later Character Development, he can end up a bit nicer than before.
Finally, there is Salim Othman, the token Iraqi of the cast. As a sympathetic family man, he wants no part in the war and just wants to see his son on his birthday. However, his duties as a soldier and situation with the American cast force him to take part in this nightmare. As an Action Dad, he is one of the most proactive members of the cast, and tries to form a friendship with the untrusting Americans.
The walking speeds are greatly improved, as it takes a much shorter time to collect clues, such as the story of Randolph Hodgson accompanied by cinematics. The variation of the game, while faltering a bit near the end, is a very welcome improvement from Little Hope.
The difficulty setting is perhaps the best improvement, as the complaints of QTE's being too hard in Medan and too easy in Hope are addressed and remedied. The new setting allows warnings for all types of QTE's, warnings for some types of QTE's and not others, or no warnings whatsoever.
The graphics are good as always, and the music is great.
Overall, a solid game and the best game in The Dark Pictures Anthology. There are faults, but they don't drag the game down too much.