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[Review] ‘Hello Neighbor Hide & Seek’ Gets Surreal, But Loses the Series’ Horror Edge

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A deeper look at the tragic past of a villain, but the returning horrors are not welcome ones. Find out why in our Hello Neighbor Hide & Seek review.

Hello Neighbor is somewhat of an anomaly: a game that was largely panned by critics at launch (sitting on a tepid OpenCritic average of 42) yet boasts a surprisingly large fanbase. There’s now a Hello Neighbor “universe” with two more games, a novel series, and merch that includes a Neighbor Funko Pop and even a range of McFarlane playsets and figures. While baffling to some there’s obviously a demand there, no doubt driven by the game’s popularity among YouTubers and streamers.

For those who’ve never heard of Hello Neighbor, it’s a bizarre, janky hodgepodge of genres: a first-person stealth puzzler with a healthy dose of platforming. Children have been going missing in the small suburban town of Raven Brooks and it doesn’t take long to work out who is behind these strange disappearances. As a child, you decide to enter the Neighbor’s home and investigate just what is going on while making sure you aren’t his next victim.

What follows is a series of puzzles that often require you to build platforms, flip switches, and collect key items from around the house including a variety of tools. It’s an interesting, creepy premise though the game wasn’t without its fair share of issues from confusing puzzles and rough first-person platforming to the Neighbor’s sporadic AI and a myriad of bugs.

For Dynamic Pixels, one thing that worked in the developer’s favor was a shift in art direction. Since it was revealed a couple of years ago, the game became increasingly more stylised, the end result looking like a Lemony Snicket/Cartoon Network crossover – peculiar and eccentric with a sinister undertone. Not only did this imbue Hello Neighbor with a more unique sense of character, but it also meant that the game could target a younger audience that would, in turn, grow into a thriving fanbase.

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On the surface, Hello Neighbor doesn’t have much of a story. After escaping the house your character moves to the city only to return to Raven Brooks many years later, facing off against the Neighbor in a bizarre dream sequence, his home gradually turning into a rickety fortress held together by boards and nails.

You never really learn who he is or what exactly is going on in that basement. However, as you play Hello Neighbor you get the sense that it’s trying to tell a much deeper story, as evidenced by the occasional game over cutscene and fairly unassuming clues scattered about the house. Fans have continued to theorize, picking apart the game’s four, fairly brief acts to find some meaning. With Hello Neighbor: Hide & Seek, Dynamic Pixels finally fills in some of the blanks.

It’s a prequel, and one that focuses on the Neighbor’s son and daughter. Each of the five stages has them dive into their own imaginations, the scenarios they encounter becoming more twisted following the sudden death of their mother and as their family life starts to deteriorate. As in the original game, characters rarely speak and when they do it’s conveyed through Sims-like gobbledygook, leaving players to infer what is being said. Still, the game manages to hit home with a couple of its more impactful cutscenes, painting the villainous Neighbor in a completely new light, albeit a fairly tragic one.

Actually playing Hide & Seek can be somewhat of an ordeal, however. For the most part, it’s pretty much the same as Hello Neighbor. There’s an overriding focus on puzzles and platforming while attempting to evade an ever-present stalker who, in this case, is the Neighbor’s son.

The five stages are all structured similarly – imaginary playboxes in which you’ll need to collect hidden toys and place them in a basket to advance. The way these toys are carefully stashed away means that you’ll need to search every nook and cranny, exploring hard-to-reach places and keeping an eye out for key items that may be of use.

Some of the solutions can be genuinely fun and rewarding though others are simply too vague. It wouldn’t be such an issue if Hide & Seek didn’t demand that you retrieve every single collectible in order to clear a stage – there are plenty to find and only having one or two left with no idea where they are can be infuriating to say the least.

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With the Neighbor himself being largely out of focus, that slight horror element from the original game doesn’t really carry over. Creeping around his house, unsure where he was going to appear led to some tense moments that you just don’t get with Hide & Seek. Evading the Neighbor’s son is easy and while the stages become more surreal there’s an altogether lighter vibe this time around.

For those who simply must know what happens in the lead up to that first game, Hello Neighbor: Hide & Seek is essential for filling in those blanks. However, those who are simply looking for a fun game to play are likely to be left deeply unsatisfied. Unpolished and often times confusing, it’s a weird mishmash of genres that, despite its issues, is at least helping to popularise an incredibly niche genre of children’s horror in video games.

Hide & Seek is sure to go down well with fans, and with another (multiplayer-focused) game already in the works, it will be interesting to see how Dynamic Pixels continues to build the franchise in future, hopefully tightening its core design and rounding off some of those rougher edges.

Hello Neighbor Hide & Seek review code on PS4 provided by the publisher.

Hello Neighbor Hide & Seek is out now on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Books

‘In Search of Darkness’ Book Review: A Must-Have for ’80s Horror Fans

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In 2019, the documentary of 80s horror In Search of Darkness became an instant hit with horror fans. Now, a beautiful coffee table style companion book is available and is a must-own for all fans of one of horror’s greatest eras. The book is a walk down the horror aisle of the best mom and pop video store in the heyday of VHS, featuring full color photos, poster art, insightful essays and more. More than just a nostalgic throwback, In Search of Darkness is the kind of book I wish I’d had back in my years as a burgeoning horror fan but is also satisfying for the film fanatic I have become in the years since.

The format is beautifully and simply laid out, with at least a dozen (usually more) movies from each year of the decade presented in order of release accompanied by informative and insightful essays by the authors Heather Wixson and Patrick Bromley. Both authors have been mainstays of film journalism, specializing in horror, for many years. Wixson began her career in 2007 with Dread Central and has spent the past ten years as the Managing Editor of Daily Dead, from which she recently retired to focus on books and other projects. She has devoted the past several years to interviewing and writing books about the Make-up and Special Effects wizards that have brought so much to film over the years, specifically the horror genre.

Bromley is a film journalist and critic whose work can be found all over the place including right here on Bloody Disgusting. He recently provided the commentary for the Vinegar Syndrome release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and is known as something of a Tobe Hooper expert. He is also the founder and editor of F this Movie!, an eclectic film website, and host of its accompanying podcast. So, to be clear, the authors know their stuff.

Wixson and Bromley divide writing duties roughly in half and though each has a distinctive voice, their writing styles dovetail beautifully into a cohesive whole. Each author plays to their strengths. Being familiar with both their work I didn’t even have to look at the bylines to know that Heather covered Christine and Terror in the Aisles and Patrick took on The Funhouse and Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers. Wixson’s passion for make-up effects is clear and comes through in many of her contributions. In general, Wixson takes on the “big” titles, the movies that defined the decade the most, and Bromley covers what the more cynical among us might call schlock, but he would likely call pure cinematic bliss. There are exceptions and surprises, of course, as there should be (Patrick covers The Shining for example). Each essay dives into the history behind the film, the major players involved, the reception, and legacy with often surprising aspects drawn from interviews with the filmmakers from various sources and insights from the authors.

For all their in-depth explorations of each film, in general the authors keep their critics’ hats safely stowed, keeping in mind that every entry on the book has its fans. In fact, they may well have sold me on finally hitting play on some of the schlockier offerings of the decade like Evilspeak, Nightbeast, and Blood Diner. Hell, I may even give The Beast Within a spin for shits and giggles. The point is that this book is a celebration through and through. The authors are honest about the critical receptions of the films, which were often unkind, and sometimes let their own opinions shine through, but recognize how beloved even the schlockiest films can become given time and availability. And that is an ongoing theme of In Search of Darkness. What may have been dismissed in its day often becomes revered as the years pass. Variations on the phrase “the years have been kind to…” referring to various maligned projects like The Thing, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, The Blob and many, many others, can be found throughout the book for good reason.

Each chapter of the book also includes a rundown of the top horror movies at the box office for the year as well as the top movies of all genres for context. The final page for each year highlights some of the major news and pop culture events including the top songs, albums, and television shows. There is a large central section that pays tribute to the talent involved with the greatest horror films of the 80s including directors, actors, effects artists, and more. This section includes brief biographies of John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Stephen King, Tom Savini, Barbara Crampton, Robert Englund, and many others presented in a dynamic and engaging fashion.

One of the beauties of the book is that it covers so much ground. Sure, you’ll find Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, and the Halloween sequels in it, but you’ll also find deeper cuts like The Changeling, The Being, and Tetsuo: The Iron Man. I was happy to find the same love given to Frank Henenlotter and Larry Cohen as to George A. Romero and David Cronenberg. In other words, In Search of Darkness is extraordinarily eclectic, highlighting the diversity that truly defined what is often viewed as a homogenous decade. The authors make the case that the 80s was horror’s greatest decade, and with what they lay out throughout this book, it’s tough to argue against that. I even came across a film or two I hadn’t even heard of before, which has become increasingly rare as the years go by.

At just shy of $85, the cover price may give some horror hounds pause, but believe me, it’s worth every penny. This is a beautiful volume that every fan of 80s horror will want on their shelf or prominently displayed on their coffee table. Filled with favorite titles, hundreds of full color photos, insightful and informative writing, this is simply a must own.

You can order your copy now.

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