In Hollow bodyA third-person survival horror game in the style of the early 2000s from Nathan Hamley (the solo developer behind Headware Games), the true terror comes not from its horrifying monsters, but from inhabiting a world where the system fails ordinary people and leaves them to die.
Hollow body is an homage to the PlayStation 2-era classics that helped define the genre. It also adds a “techno-noir” twist; think of the early Silent Hill games, namely Silent Hill 2and a touch of Blade Runner. It has a very intense atmosphere, and relies almost exclusively on building tension rather than action to create a palpable sense of unease. And while the game resurrects the PS2 graphics, it doesn't No subjects you to tank checks (unless you want them, then there's a switch for that, sickos).
The plot is set in the not-too-distant future, in a ruined city somewhere in the British Isles, decades after the region was hit by a supposed biological attack and then bombed while quarantined. A brief introduction alludes to the corruption and conspiracy surrounding the true events of the catastrophe. The initial attacks targeted cities “plagued by economic hardship and depravity,” and the affected areas were walled off to contain the spread of any contagion—but not before people deemed “high-value” citizens were allowed to escape to an artificial island with a suspiciously utopian name (Aeonis).
The game begins with a group of activist researchers who have gathered at an entry point to one of the exclusion zones, where they plan to go in search of answers. After one of them, Sasha, goes missing, her partner Mica embarks on a flying vehicle to find her at any cost.
It is in this opening sequence where we really see the tech-noir part of Hollow bodyThe description of 's comes through: Mica looking out the huge glass window of an apartment overlooking a densely populated city in the style Blade Runner 2049; flying between skyscrapers in a flying passenger vehicle; having a risqué conversation with an intelligent navigation system. Naturally, Mica crashes during the trip, loses contact with the only person who can help her, and has to make her way to Sasha on foot.
From there, the tech-noir touch fades away until it reappears at the end of the game and… Hollow body The game takes the more traditional “science experiment turned local extinction event” style of survival horror. There are a few touches of that distinctive tech-infused vision (at one point, Mica walks past a broken-down robot the size of an apartment building, and there’s a shiny children’s toy in a room that looks vaguely robotic), but it’s not exactly omnipresent. Mica’s personal gadgets and inventory menu style serve as the only real reminders of that angle for most of the game.
There are a number of puzzles to solve as you explore abandoned buildings and the city parks while trying to figure out how to get out of there. The solutions to most of these are pretty obvious once you find the clues scattered around each location, so the fun is more in the exploration.
However, it would occasionally get me thinking about something, and it didn’t help that surfaces I could interact with would sometimes continue to display indicators like “Pick Up” or “Search” even after I’d removed everything I could use. In messy rooms, I’d find myself checking some spots over and over again thinking I’d missed something. These prompts would also pop up in some places just to have Mica make inconsequential observations, like commenting on dirty dishes or sheets that hadn’t been washed for years, and she’d repeat the same comments over and over when she came across the same setups in different apartments.
Thankfully, that doesn't take much away from how unnerving the environment is. The music is eerie, and it combines with intense ambient noises like rain, radio static, and the echo of Mica's footsteps to create a truly visceral soundscape. If Mica is ever inside a building or underground structure, you can be sure it's going to be dark and labyrinthine. It always felt like a monster was going to jump out at any moment, even though that's not usually the case (though sometimes it was). Outside, Mica is exposed, and it's not long before monsters notice her and start congregating around her.
The monsters themselves are wonderfully disgusting. There are bipedal abominations, some emaciated, while others are lumbering and headless, with huge tentacles waving from their upper halves. Hollow body It also has some demonic dogs, plus some insectoid creatures running around that seemingly pose no threat beyond scaring the shit out of you. Cat-sized worm creatures will slither past you, and their hilariously clumsy animation might be the most PS2-esque thing in the entire game.
It’s not very combat-oriented (often, you can just run past enemies), but there are guns you can access and some makeshift melee weapons. Using the latter felt a little stiff and slow at times, particularly when facing off against a pack of beasts, but I was still able to get by favoring blunt tools to conserve ammo. And I enjoyed the thud of my street-sign axe impacting against monster flesh. I also loved that Mica could grab an electric guitar off the wall and use it as a weapon. It might not be the most pragmatic approach considering the heaviness, but the clang when it makes contact with its target is very satisfying.
There are bodies in various states of decomposition everywhere, and Mica’s scanner will give you an instant readout of the deceased to give you an idea of who they were and how they died. In many cases, the cause is nothing paranormal – dehydration, starvation, murder, etc. A backstory is formed through documents and audio flashbacks that trigger at certain sites, telling of the financial hardships and gentrification in the city long before the biological disaster, and the ultimate desolation suffered by the people in the quarantined area afterward, who could only survive as long as their dwindling resources allowed them.
Mica finds a notice of impending rent increases, a letter mentioning construction halts taking place at all hours of the night, and a notice of overdue utility bill payments showing that monthly prices have quadrupled. She finds a note left by a dying man, wishing for a better future for his family and humanity. In a post-quarantine recording, starving civilians begging to leave the city are gunned down by the armed forces. It’s all incredibly grim, and I didn’t have to suspend my disbelief much to imagine a reality where things would play out like this.
But the explanation for why there are hideous, fleshy humanoid monsters roaming the streets is never fully and directly revealed (at least, not with the ending I reached and all the materials I gathered). The most substantial clue in this regard came from a single newspaper clipping, the contents of which I'd rather not reveal here. The article plants the seed of an idea, but it's largely up to the player to fill in the blanks beyond that.
There are also touching bits of Mica and Sasha's story, but the duo's connection to this place and the apparent importance of what's happening in the present day never quite had the perfect ending I was hoping for. While the ending was a beautiful, emotional scene that felt like it brought the story full circle thematically, it also left me feeling like: Wait, what just happened? However, it seems that there are other endings that may prove more conclusive on later playthroughs. Beating the game also unlocks a higher difficulty option and a first-person dungeon crawler mode, which immediately made everything seem scarier when I activated it.
Even with its flaws, Hollow body is a solid survival horror title that is especially impressive considering the fact that it was created by an indie developer. The vibes are part of what made its predecessors unforgettable and Hollow bodyThe oppressive mood of 'hits all the right notes.