The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes review

Set in a fictional 2003, House of Ashes tells the story Lt. Colonel Eric King who arrives in Iraq, in the middle of the Iraq War, to reunite with his wife Rachel King and brief her team of Marines on a special mission. They will be raiding an underground storage suspected to hold and hide weapons of mass destruction. Unfortunately, as they dig deeper into the underground, they uncover something much more terrifying.

Much like previous entries, House of Ashes is an interactive game where the core gameplay relies on players making different choices during conversational events which will impact not only the ending but also the in-game characters’ relationship and even whether they live or die.

The gameplay is surprisingly varied despite being an interactive movie. For decision making, players need to move the right joystick left or right to make a decision, there will also be situations where for example you’ll need to aim and fire your weapon whether to scare opposing forces or incapacitate civilians.

To complete this simplistic decision-making mechanic, the game is filled with QTEs; Quick Time Events. While as a general rule, I feel like they drag down or hinder a typical gaming experience, with this genre, it’s perfect. You’ll have to press the button prompted on-screen before the timer runs out otherwise, there could be deadly consequences.

Given that this time SuperMassive Games has designed soldiers as the game’s protagonist, it will involved a bit more combat. But again, it’s an interactive movie. When prompted, you’ll need to move around the targeting cursor until it becomes reds and then press the RT to fire your weapon or defend yourself properly with a melee weapon. But again, miss and there could be fatal results. Additionally, no matter which interactive sequence you’re facing, you can do nothing but chances are it will impact your relationships negatively.

The biggest problem with the game is the visual nuisances where sometimes a new character will be introduced with the typical text on screen which displays their name and personality traits. The problem is the text is white and it’s sometimes on a pale backdrop meaning you can barely read the character’s information. Same issue with the in-game menu font color. If you make the mistake of pausing when in a desert-like colored background, menu items are barely readable. Thankfully, you can change the color of the subtitles.

Presentation-wise, the game looks fine overall but character models are the same, some of them somehow less detailed, than PS4’s exclusive Until Dawn or the first entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology; Man of Medan; additionally, they still mannequin-like plastic which is creepy in itself. While there are worst looking games out there, Grand Theft Auto V, an 8-year-old game, has better-looking character models. There are also a few technical hiccups where the environments will load, but a few seconds later, you’ll see the textures loading. I’ve even encountered loading screens when transitioning between cutscenes and gameplay.

Audio-wise, the game is pretty solid. The actors’ work is pretty on-point and feels like watching a typical movie. The score is a creepy, tension-filled soundtrack perfect for the unknown our protagonists are exploring. It’s also exactly what you’d expect if you played previous entries in The Dark Pictures Anthology series.

House of Ashes is a fun, action-packed, gripping addition to the Dark Pictures Anthology series. Despite being very light on scares, especially compared to the previous entry, Little Hope, the tension is still around every corner and you have to always be ready to make a decision or at the ready to defend yourself or your pals. And despite visuals being a bit outdated and some technical hiccups, House of Ashes is definitely worth your time and money. With Halloween around the corner, snuggle up with your loved one, and boot this baby up for some tension.