Developer: Elden Pixels
Platforms: Linux, macOS, PC (Reviewed), Switch
Genre: Action
Publisher: Elden Pixels
A Void Hope is a short survival horror game. This game was developed and published by Elden Pixel. The game has similar mechanics to most platform games but has a similar grasp to the Stranger Things: The Game. This review was done on the PC, but the game is also available for macOS, Linux and Switch.
A Void Hope is a single-player game where a strange illness has taken over a dystopian city, and the workings of a cure seem far from imagination. The start of the game puts you into the world of a couple by the names of Keegan and Gilda. At first, the two remain unaffected, but as the story progresses, Keegan starts to fall ill with this plague. Gilda tries her best to find a way to keep Keegan from turning, and her dark secrets disappear after an argument between the two. Keegan, who tries his best to withhold from letting himself get infected, goes out to save his wife.
The controls to A Void Hope are extremely easy to get a hang of. There really is no use for the mouse as all the controls are on the keyboard itself. The layout for the keybinds is easy to play with, and no controls are out of the ordinary. I did find that the shooting and aiming keyboard control was a bit weird to get used to, but it worked really smoothly once I got the hang of them. As you go through the opening of the game, an on-screen tutorial is shown, with the controls needed to enjoy your adventure. The game does recommend that you play with a controller, and I understand why it is recommended as it allows for a greater gaming experience, but I found both the keyboard and controller to work smoothly. It depends on your preference.
The art style for A Void Hope is a beautifully immersed pixelated world. The game features stunning pixelating visuals that create an atmospheric environment, one which resembles that of the Stranger Things: The Game. There is a darker tone and ambience set to the game, which is encapsulated really well with the various layers of the environment. The foreground, background, and elemental 3D effects in this pixelated art style do a great job of creating a town that is filled with eeriness. Just the designs of the characters are so well made, even with its simplicity adds a whole nother level of captivation for players. I like the lighting, colours, slight animations and shadow effects that really complement the tone and story of this game. In addition to the visuals, the soundtrack makes the game even more alluring with the completion of the visuals. The soundtrack can be described as vivid and haunting. It’s a great mix of ambient noises, such as crickets chirping and footsteps, mixed with instrumental synthesised music to add the eeriness to this journey. The soundtrack immerses the player into a void-like desolate place, which accompanies the story extremely well. I found the visuals and sounds to make the game much more encapsulating to play as it added more of a haunting side to the game.
The gameplay for A Void Hope is actually quite simple as it is quite similar to most platformers but with its own little twist. The game’s platforming abilities are mainly to solve puzzles such as reaching from one side to the other or opening doors in order to leave a sector of the city. What I really like about this game is that each sector of the town has its own set of objectives that players can look for to complete without having to rush to the end of town. Especially because the addition of this allows players to re-run select courses after obtaining certain items in future courses. I found that backtracking in this game was definitely fun and increased the gameplay value as you could achieve all objectives and properly explore the town to your liking. I did like the backtracking to some extent because, after a certain while, when running into dead-ends one after the other, it started to become a bit annoying. Though, of course, it does add a good deal of playable value.
The combat in this game was not too bad. I found that the use of the gun against the shadowy creatures was a good way to give players time to run across or reach a certain area. The shadowy humans are ones where you can not tell who will turn once entering the area, which adds more of a haunting feel to the game. I like that when replaying certain courses, the shadowy creatures are not always in the same place, making the eerie sound que extremely important for players. Most of the time, it’s not even humans but can be dogs that chase after you, which makes you play cautiously. It’s important not to run into these creatures, as one touch will send you back to your last checkpoint lamp. At first, I used to get annoyed that you were not able to jump over these creatures, but after finding the flare gun, it made it much easier to take on these enemies. There isn’t a great deal of ‘combat’ in this game; it mainly tries to keep focus around the story aspect.
As said earlier, backtracking is important, and that is because you can find various items that will help you reach the depths of buildings, break blocked wooden planks or attach to stuff. This is another way to add some purpose to the game rather than having players run from one side all the way to the other.
Overall, I found this game to be quite interesting and fun. It’s a pretty short game, but for what it is, it does a good job of keeping players tucked in all at once. I found myself finishing the entire game in one sitting and would not really have much to complain about. I liked the way the developers did a great job at creating a dark and haunting world, but I do wish more depth to the story was added. Besides that, the game was really fun to play and was not over the top for a platformer game.
A Void Hope is an interesting game that revolves around an emotional story where you wander various courses within a desolate town. On your journey, you play between a couple who have different goals in order to keep each other safe in this infested world. The game captures a great sense of eeriness through fascinating pixelated visuals and a synth-like soundtrack that grips players into this haunting town. If you want to try out a short survival adventure/horror game, then be sure to check out A Void Hope!
Overall: 7.5/10
This is S & S. We are world game explorers. We play games. We have played over 10,000+ games! We travel, we write reviews AND we play more games!!!!
