Dark pictures anthology 3: The Dark Pictures — House of Ashes

Supermassive Games — House of Ashes


2021

PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC

THE DARK PICTURES ANTHOLOGY: HOUSE OF ASHES — OUT NOW

House of Ashes, the brand-new game in The Dark Pictures Anthology, is out now on PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Experience moments of tension and terror alone in single player mode, with your friends through 2 player online shared story or with up to 5 players in the couch-friendly movie night mode.

Iraq, 2003. In the shadow of the Zagros mountains a military unit comes under fire from Iraqi forces. The resulting firefight causes an earth tremor where both sides fall into the ruins of a buried Sumerian temple. With all communication severed, our protagonists are trapped in a terrifying underworld they must navigate to escape — unaware that something ancient and evil has awakened in the shadows and has found a new prey to hunt.

Horrific discoveries and impossible decisions now face the survivors as they strive to escape the terrifying threat they awakened. Will they each prioritize their own survival, or put aside their fears and personal rivalries to fight together as one against these underworld monsters?

The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes is available in Standard and Pazuzu editions, and is also included in the Triple Pack bundle.

• The Pazuzu Edition, includes House of Ashes game, the Pazuzu Edition box, an exclusive underworld creature figurine (9x9x10cm), a metal Eclipse pin, exclusive art print, stickers and access to the pre-order bonus: Curator’s Cut.

• The Triple Pack is a bundle of Man of Medan, Little Hope and House of Ashes games. It also includes a 4-disc steelbook, a Dark Pictures cloth map, 3 pins from The Dark Pictures and access to the pre-order bonus: Curator’s Cut.

For full details go to the official website.







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The Dark Pictures Anthology: 3 Improvements We Want to See

Each installment of The Dark Picture Anthology has been improving upon the last, but these improvements will ensure a better product in the future. With two games already available, a third on the way, and 8 installments planned in total, The Dark Picture Anthology has the potential to grow even further.

Emanuel Ortiz

Opinion Pieces

The Dark Pictures Anthology is an anthology of horror games by Supermassive Games, the developers behind the highly acclaimed Until Dawn. Unlike Until Dawn, however, the games here are shorter in length, allowing the developers to create a new one each year. Unfortunately, these smaller games haven’t captured the magic Until Dawn had. Both Man of Medan and Little Hope received generally mixed reviews. House of Ashes looks to fix some of the issues that plagued the first two titles, such as the removal of fixed cameras in exchange for a 360 camera, the inclusion of a flashlight button, and the inclusion of an actual monster.

These changes are sure to make House of Ashes stand above the first two titles, but what else can the franchise do to improve?

1)
1. STORYLINE – Less Reaction, More Exploration, More Choices

2)
2. COUCH CO-OP – Two screens are better than one

3)
3. MOVEMENT – Loosen those frightened nerves

1. STORYLINE – Less Reaction, More Exploration, More Choices

The Dark Pictures Anthology consists of standalone narrative horror games where the players’ choices affect the outcome of their characters. Or so, they should. It feels as though a fair number of deaths are reliant more on QTEs (quick timed events) rather than choices made in the game. Little Hope corrected this a bit by adding more opportunities to survive based on exploration. Essentially, the player is rewarded for going out of their way to find an item that might benefit them later down the line.

Exploration could use an improvement though. Maybe exploration gets the player familiar with a certain area, which later helps them with a decision. When they’re running away from a monster, they can either hide under the bed or take a right turn. What’s on the right? A kitchen! A kitchen has knives that players can use to defend themselves. The player would only know this if they took their time to explore. Have exploration matter more by including more paths, not just to find items but maybe to unlock additional conversations with the characters. These conversations could hint at possible solutions to issues that appear later down in the storyline.

Choose Carefully

These hints could play into the character traits, an unusually confusing gameplay mechanic that sometimes seemingly has no influence on the outcome of a character. They have more influence in Little Hope, but could still use some improvements. The issue is how these traits lock the player into one playstyle instead of adjusting based on how they play. It’s not fun nor realistic to expect the player to always pick the same type of response. Not choosing to repeatedly spam the compassion option shouldn’t affect the player later down the line.

There should be some middle ground where players are rewarded for paying attention to details at particular moments, rather than mindlessly selecting the same type of responsive over and over again.

2. COUCH CO-OP – Two screens are better than one

Man of Medan and Little Hope introduced the new game modes Movie Night and Shared Story, which added cooperation with other players. Shared Story allowed for online play where two users could each simultaneously control a character. The mode was a fun addition and made sense in a game where characters are often split up.

The idea behind Movie Night mode is for multiple people to locally play together. It sadly doesn’t add anything that couldn’t be done without the mode. In Movie Night, players select characters they want to play and when that particular character appears on screen, whoever chose that character gets to play. Friends or partners just simply pass the controller to one another. It’s a mode that felt sort of shoehorned into the game.

A game better with more friends

The Dark Pictures Anthology could benefit from split-screen couch co-op, allowing two people to simultaneously play the game. Shared Story mode showed it’s possible for multiple users to play at the same time, so why not allow it with local play? Why not even encourage it? Maybe something player 1 sees could potentially help player 2? It’s not fun to simply hand the controller over to your friend after your turn is over. Having two players each in charge of a character and going through the same fear could lead to a more fun atmosphere.

3. MOVEMENT – Loosen those frightened nerves

The Dark Pictures Anthology always had a rough time when it came to movement. When controlling a character, they always felt heavy and sluggish. Moving forward and stopping typically always had a delay. Pair that up with fixed camera angles where players further lose control of their character and it made for some frustrating traversal.

Fixed camera angles have almost become a staple for the horror franchise, having been in all three Supermassive horror titles so far. Little Hope experimented more with the idea of letting the player control the camera. Certain areas of that title allowed for more freedom, letting the player roam without fixed angles. House of Ashes appears to completely eliminate the idea of fixed camera angles. It’s a shame considering how much of a movie-like quality was given during these fixed scenes. Unfortunately, they contributed to the rigid movement that players sometimes experienced when playing these titles. It wasn’t only the fixed camera angles, however.

House of Ashes won’t have fixed cameras

Even in Little Hope during the areas where players could rotate the camera, movement was often stiff. Exploration in this franchise was even more difficult because of the darkness in them. Sure, players have a flashlight, but even that was more difficult than it needed to be. The entire experience did not feel smooth and often came across as cheap. There is nothing more frustrating than missing a turn then having to stop your character completely before you can turn around. It feels very outdated and could use improvements. Movement should be fluid and responsive. The flashlight should be easy to wield and point at objects. Because the character has a difficult time following the player, immersion can be broken.

The anthology’s first two outings haven’t faired well when compared to Until Dawn. There are additional issues such as voice acting and character work which hindered the first two titles in this franchise. It’s not a perfect franchise by any means, and can even be frustrating. Still, Little Hope improved upon Man of Medan, and House of Ashes is looking to continue that climb upwards. The improvements listed here wouldn’t solve all this franchise’s issues, but the inclusion of them would certainly cement these games as must-play titles even for those who aren’t a fan of horror. 

House of Ashes releases October 22, 2021, for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC (Steam).

The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes — Official Teaser Trailer

Watch this video on YouTube

The Dark Pictures Anthology is an interactive survival horror video game series developed by Supermassive Games and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The series premiered with Medan Man in 2019, followed by Little Hope and House of Ashes in development.

Summary

  • 1 games
  • 2 General elements
  • 3 Development
  • 4 House
  • 5 links

Games

The series is expected to eventually include eight games, two of which have already been released.

  • Dark Pictures Anthology: The Man from Medan (2019)
  • Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope (2020)
  • Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes (2021)
  • Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me (2022)

Common elements

The horror-themed games in the series allow players to make decisions for their characters and watch the consequences. The games support a cooperative mode in which each player controls his own character.

Development

The series is developed by Supermassive Games. In 2020, Bandai Namco Entertainment described the series as a hard-to-sell series because it was an «anthology» with only one entry. They saw it as a long-term investment that they felt would bring more meaning to gamers and attract more fans as more games became available.

Home

In its first week of playing Man of Medan was the third best selling physical game in the UK, the best selling in the EMEAA territory and reached one million copies sold worldwide after one year on the market. Little Hope first week physical sales in the UK were 47% lower than Man of Medan. GamesIndustry.biz noted that this may be due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to more players buying digital versions of videos. games than in previous years.

Recommendations

  • (fr) This article is taken in whole or in part from the English Wikipedia article titled «Anthology of Dark Pictures» (see list of authors) .
  1. ↑ a and b. Murray, Sean, « Man from Medan will be the first photos of the eight in the dark series, will introduce 9 multiplayer mode0089″ [archived ] , Gamer, (accessed November 9, 2020)
  2. ↑ Herblik Jordan, « Dark Pictures Little Hope Anthology Gets New Trailer and October Release Date» [Archive ] , GamesRadar+, (as of 9 November 2020 )
  3. ↑ Jan, « House of Ashes, third entry in The Dark Pictures anthology, releases 2021 » [archived du ] , Fugitive, (as of Nov 9, 2020)
  4. ↑ Balding, Jonathan, « House of Ashes is the next game from Dark Pictures Anthology, here’s the trailer» [Archive ] , PC Gamer, Future plc, Oct 30124 (as of November 21, 2020)
  5. ↑ a and b Dilessandri, Marie, “ Bandai Namco: How long can we work with independent studios? » [Archive of ] , GamesIndustry. biz, Gamer Network, (accessed November 23, 2020)
  6. ↑ « Dark Pictures Anthology — Man of Medan Reviews «, Metacritic (accessed November 23, 2020)
  7. ↑ « Dark Pictures Anthology — Man of Medan Reviews «, Metacritic (accessed November 23, 2020)
  8. ↑ « Dark Pictures Anthology — Man of Medan Reviews «, Metacritic (accessed November 23, 2020)
  9. ↑ « Dark Pictures Anthology — reviews Little Hope «, Metacritic (accessed November 23, 2020)
  10. ↑ « Dark Pictures Anthology — reviews Little Hope «, Metacritic (accessed November 23, 2020)
  11. ↑ « Dark Pictures Anthology — reviews Little Hope «, Metacritic (accessed November 23, 2020)
  12. ↑ Dring, Christopher, « PlatinumGames ranks #1 in the UK with Astral Chain rating of » [archived ] , GamesIndustry. biz, Gamer Network, (as of November 23, 2020)
  13. ↑ Handrahan, Matthew, « The Dark Pictures EMEAA supermassive games chart tops » [archived ] , GamesIndustry.biz, Gamer Network, (accessed November 6, 2019) 2020)
  14. ↑ Dring, Christopher, « Soft Opening Week for Watch Dogs Legion and Pikmin 3 | UK physical maps » [archived ] , GamesIndustry.biz, Gamer Network, (accessed Nov 23, 2020)

Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope

Dark Pictures Anthology : A Little Hope is the second game in the horror film anthology from the Dark Pictures series. The premise seemed, already judging by the little information, clearly superior to the (un)fortunate previous chapter. However, given the failure of the previous episode, the question arises: does this game manage to surpass Man of Medan in quality? Let’s find out with this review.

A feature of the Dark Pictures Anthology series developed by the guys from Supermassive Games , especially famous Until Dawn and also for the already mentioned Horror-themed) in which the interactions between different characters and the moral choices made by the player are at the center of the narrative, which may turn out to be right or, in some cases, wrong. . However, the specificity of this series concerns not only everything related to the gameplay: in fact, developers seem to have been inspired to create these stories by some of the facts and legends that surround us in real life, obviously romanticizing them, thus creating a series of chapters, all scattered and with different time frames.

However, despite the rather tepid reception from the previous chapter (mainly due to numerous technical errors) Little hope there is actually some hope for a revival about this peculiar series: Bandai Namco, in fact, especially believed in the project, and positive results, especially in the technical sector, they are quite obvious .

As mentioned before, this anthology is mainly inspired by real events and some urban legends. Little hope is loosely based on what, in particular, is well known to a certain (American) public: folklore inherent the horrific witch hunt event of which covers the period from 1450 to 1750 and claimed from 35. 000 to 100.000 victims worldwide. Many of these unfair and well-known trials took place in the city of Salem, but there was another city in America where these episodes were not new: Andover, Massachusetts, which, like another American city, was convicted in several cases. witchcraft. And it is in these cities that the work draws inspiration.

Luckily, the title manages to honestly effortlessly surpass the quality of its predecessor, not only visually, but also in the way the developers have managed to develop the game’s story, and without giving you too many spoilers, I can safely confirm this 9The 0249 tension is much more tangible and tangible, with a few twists on the that make the experience more fun. The group of main characters is five guys , including Andrew (who in the original version is played by English actor Will Poulter , best known for participating in the interactive episode of Netflix Black Mirror). Before acting and performing any actions in the game, it is important, if not essential, to perform certain actions. moral choice . Remember this name is basically based on the fact that you choose and this especially affects the continuation of the story. However, none of these options guarantees (at least immediately) positive or negative options, but the consequences of that follow precisely from how we decided to characterize the current character.

Il name fortunately this is available in italian how to what is about menu which is for the location is which features the voice actor Renato Novara in a convincing interpretation. In general, the entire cast is superbly voiced and manages to feel the constant tension.

The video game Supermassive Games, like the previous one, presents in different ways face to face with history: if you «dare», you can deal with history alone , otherwise there is a special section dedicated to those who want to play with friends. Speaking of the single-player version, the story looks more standard, allowing the player to customize their experience, thus focusing on the characteristics of the various main characters. In addition, hints are scattered around the map, which are useful for previewing certain events and therefore can be useful for moderating your future choices/options.

Considering that throughout the game we have to take into account the different personalities of the main characters involved, I recommend that you carefully observe, without making spoilers, the various traits of their personalities in order to move smoothly through the story. However, throughout the entire game phase, we are accompanied by a narrator curator , a person who (as already shown in The Man from Medan) explains to us not only how to approach the game in the early stages, but also constantly comments on the events in which, unfortunately, we are involved.

For those who don’t particularly like horror but want to rely on a shared experience, Little Hope also allows you to play together with other people with « Don’t Play Alone «. Like the Man from Medan, Opera allows us to try out the title with friends, sharing experiences and giving us the joystick to choose which character to be and share during breaks featuring selected characters. In fact, this version does not bring too many changes compared to what was in the previous episode. The same cannot be said for another mode that is always present in the multiplayer game: « story published online «. Although he was also present in Man of Medan, not only will the game experience be shared with a friend in this version, but also has some unedited scenes that are not available in the single-player version, unlike the previous one. Obviously, this choice involves not only new interactions ( dialogues and choices) but also unpublished and intriguing conclusions . Therefore, to get more enjoyment from the game, I would recommend this mode.

Fortunately, while Man of Medan had many (maybe even TOO MANY) technical bugs, developers Supermassive Games listened to feedback from various players, and finally managed to bring a gaming experience worthy of the title of horror. . If in the previous case the fears were not caused by the story itself or the settings, but by too many bugs and technical problems (sometimes I do not hide the funny ones), then in this case on a technical level we find ourselves in front of an excellent job, also in terms of details, different settings. The animation also appears to be smoother and in general everything seems to work, except for a slight drop in frame rate that could occur during fast events.
Also improved gameplay: e.g. the dialogue options have been expanded and during the QTE special marks appear on the screen to indicate what type of event is happening.

Little Hope, the ghost town of the same name where the events take place, is definitely more interesting and disturbing than the ghost ship from the old chapter, with an atmosphere full of dangers and traps in a dark environment. There’s no shortage of jumping for fear but even this chapter doesn’t have overly horror elements. However, I would like to say that this fact mainly depends on the sensitivity of each individual player, so it is up to you to decide whether the title is really scary or not.

In conclusion, Little Hope greatly improves both the game and the gameplay of the previous chapter of Man of Medan. In anticipation of the next game (scheduled for 2021, probably on Halloween), we would like to recommend this gaming experience that after about 6 hours we can conclude .

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