Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Forever Entertainment S.A
Type of game: first-person claustrophobic survival-horror game
Players: single-player
File size: 2.1 GB
Available: out now on Nintendo Switch eShop
WHAT IS ‘HOLLOW’?
Hollow is a survival-horror game made with Unreal Engine 4 on a small budget. It borrows its atmosphere from the ‘Alien’ series, ‘Dead Space’ along with many other elements from famous games in the genre mixed together into a great package that will keep the adrenaline pumping and your pants soiled during your playthough.
STORY
You find yourself on board the Shakhter-One, a mining vessel of sort in space. You can’t remember what happened, there’s no power and no one to help you except a mysterious figure that keeps helpful clues around for you. Without spoiling the story, you slowly find your way towards more answers as to what exactly happened on this ship, unravelling the plot as you go along, finding notes and inspecting the environment. The plot in Hollow drives you forward and I found myself playing for hours without realising it, just because I wanted to find more answers.
BEAUTIFUL CLAUSTROPHOBIA
Hollow is a beautiful game. The developers’ work, combined with the versatility of Unreal Engine 4 make for an incredible looking game on Switch. The assets used in the game on everything from environments and weapons to character models are well-crafted and fit perfectly in this horror setting. Hollow manages to be influenced by ‘Dead Space’ in many ways, while at the same time establishing its own distinct style. Just look at the screenshot below; the combination of film grain, bloom lighting, soft shadows, motion blur and lens/visor flare immerses you in the game. It’s unsettling and scary, the way a horror game should be. Oh, and it’s 1080p docked and 720p in portable mode.
SCARED BUT IN CONTROL
The game offers basic and easy-to-learn actions for your character. You won’t encounter any problems with the control scheme in Hollow but you might feel at times (when you’re surrounded by enemies) that it would benefit greatly from gyroscope motion aiming.
BROWN TOWN
The soundtrack in this game was a surprise for me. At times I left the menu music playing just because it is such a good track. This goes for the elevator music as well. Regarding the general sound design of this game, I dare you to play in portable mode in the dark with headphones. Hollow is not about cheap jump scares. It will scare you with its eerie ambient music, screams, random metal clanking and growls. Hollow is an immersive experience its sound design largely contributes to that.
ISSUES
Please keep in mind that any issues I mention here could be patched in the future, as Forever Entertainment have announced that a patch is being worked on to address some of the issues reported by players.
The game runs at what I believe is an unlocked framerate. This means that instead keeping a steady framerate, it might jump from 30 to 25 and then return to a smoother 40-50 for a few seconds. It makes the experience feel a bit uneven and I would prefer if the developers went for a locked framerate instead. My second gripe with the game is not so big, but that depends on which language you play it on. I found the English text in the game riddled with errors and I believe it would really benefit from a proof-reading session by a member outside the development team with English as their first language or at least a higher level of proficiency in it. These don’t break the game but I believe anyone who intends to buy it should know what they’re getting.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Hollow is worth it. It was made with a lot of love and gives the Nintendo Switch another interesting horror experience. It has style, substance, cool puzzles and it is generally fun/scary to play at home on TV or in bed. If you’re looking for a fresh horror experience on Switch and don’t mind a few framerate hitches and some text errors, then Hollow is definitely for you.
Review code provided by Forever Entertainment.
If you would like to see more articles like this one, please consider supporting me on Patreon Become a Patron!