Would be a great game if it didn’t have so many issues…
Hollow – Nintendo Switch – Released: 2/22/18 – $19.99
Short Review (Review copy provided by Forever Entertainment)
Hollow was a game I was really looking forward to since it reminded me of the original Dead Space. Creepy looking, first person shooter, and puzzles as far as the trailer was trying to tell me. What we got was a slow version that didn’t last very long and felt like a “Where do I go” type of game for the wrong reasons. If you really want to see what I mean check out the gameplay footage that had me lost for a good 10 minutes. Besides that your character feels as though he is walking through mud even when he is moving quickly. I understand that this was to give that feeling of either you are in Space or create a false sense of caution. This would have been perfectly fine if it gave you the option to move faster when nothing was going on. But the game has three types of walking, very slow, slow, and normal walking. At no point do you feel as though your character is moving faster than a steady walk down the street. The other issues are the game sets up this grand story in the opening just to be a short game at around 4-5 hours. The game’s map is crazy weird to read with it trying to be some sort of 3D map but I couldn’t tell where objectives were so I felt lost in small areas. The last issue is framerate… this game can go to a slow crawl if more than 2-3 enemies are on the screen and you are trying to outrun them. The sad part is I still like this game! Hollow has some great ideas but is barred by issues that could be updated and fixed through patches. The game being on the short side can’t be fixed and to be honest at $20 it is a bit too much for such a short game if it even fixed the movement issues. You would be looking at a game that was around 2-3 hours if they sped your character up slightly. Hollow has a good sense of fear, the combat isn’t the focus but the exploration, and the story is nice and by the end it made me want to know more or see a sequel. I would currently hold off until they fix at least the framerate issues, much like Mummy Demastered, it is a big issue to me that can’t be overlooked.
Icon is pretty awesome even though it doesn’t show anything about the game:
Story
You are an unnamed character that is on route to a space station. You don’t have any memory of who you are or why you are heading to the space station. As you are flying closer you begin to wake up and talk to yourself when you arrive in the space station. It is completely empty with boxes thrown all over the place and blood everywhere. You explore the ship to find out what has happened to the cruise to find that beings are alive and hunting you down. You have to figure out what happen and kill anything that gets in your way. It is an average B movie story but enough that made me want to continue playing to see how it ended.
Gameplay
You will mainly be looking for objects and reading. The game lets you roam all around the station with some limitations due to blockage. You will have to fight some enemies once you get a weapon but avoiding fights is better. Accessing terminals and activating switches will unlock new areas. If you do receive damage there will be syringes to fill up your heal but these are limited so don’t use them all the time. The game does offer a melee kick attack but it is really useless since it just knocks enemies back slightly but does no damage. Doing it will only stop them for a second and since enemies move slightly faster than you it doesn’t really help.
Personal Experience
I really wanted this game to be good and sadly it was so close but dragged on. The slow movement was my biggest issue outside of the framerate. I believe it is fine to do this from time to time but make the entire game slow feels terrible. I thought the idea of this game was solid and the opening makes you feel as though it will be excellent. After 25 minutes I was like I had enough when I was recording. Then to continue while laying in bed to finish it to find out it was only a few hours. Felt terrible since I wanted more after I was able to obtain a weapon, fight off the monsters, and learn more about what is going on the station.
Final Thoughts
The game has some great aspects but when things go sour, they go really sour. I would say wait on this game to get patched if you are interested in it since at $20 it would be worth it if they fixed the framerate drops. I would say the sweet spot is $15 if they fix that issue but if they never fix it, $10. Hollow is a great little horror game that never made me jump out of my seat but caused some nail biting. I could look pass some of the issues when the game is fun but when the game feels as though it missed a few marks, it is hard to recommend.
UPDATE: 5/31/18
I would give this game a 4 out of 10!
My Gameplay Footage:
Trailer:
End Credits
I really wanted to enjoy this game but minor things really hold it back. While the massive draw back for me is the framerate drop… I’m not even sure what causes it since sometimes it reacts like Mummy Demastered it may be due to just playing for long periods of time. Which to be fair 20 minutes is a short amount of time for a game to be doing this. I know for Mummy it was common enough that they eventually patched it several times. I doubt Forever Entertainment will patch it anytime soon but hopefully it comes down the line. I do like this game just wish the minor things would be fixed. I saw other reviews that agreed with these points so hopefully things get patched out. Anyway thanks for reading my review and tell me what you thought, games you plan on buying, games you want me to review. As always I’ll see you in the next review! Also, enter the giveaway!
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