The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes

Halloween is right here at the corner, and that means it's about time to start playing some horror games. And while it seems that most horror games are indie titles that you play for an hour once and never touch again, there are some incredible AAA horror titles available. The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes is the next big one. This is the third entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology series and will be available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, and it's developed by Supermassive Games and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment.

But in a good horror game, the plot and the setting are key. So, what is this game all about? Well, let’s talk about the game already.

About the game

This new horror game takes place in 2003, during the Iraq war, and it follows CIA field agent Rachel King, who joins a military unit that's tasked with the mission of taking on a supposed chemical weapon installation. However, in their mission, they suffer a harsh attack from the Iraqi troops as they are in the shadow of the Zagros mountain range. But the attack is so brutal, that it even scales up to cause an earthquake that causes both sides to fall in the ruins of an ancient Sumerian temple that was buried there.

All communications to the exterior are now impossible, and the group trapped is gonna have to go through hell trapped in this underworld. It's a nest of ancient creatures from different worlds, and the group isn't even aware that they have awakened an ancient, evil being from the shadows, and this creature has new prey to hunt on.

An ancient horror

One thing many modern horror games focus on is Lovecraftian horror, titles like The Sinking City are completely inspired by it. And The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes is a complete homage to the classic Lovecraftian horror.

House of Ashes maintains the essence of the visual style of the previous entries in The Dark Pictures Anthology. And the gameplay experience is also pretty similar, but this time it is much more focused on the gameplay itself, setting the camera mostly over the characters' shoulders. But controlling soldiers in a horror game doesn't mean this is like Resident Evil 6, as it is completely focused on the horror over the action.

The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes is a game that combines incredible art, excellent visuals, a great story, and an intense gameplay experience, all of this taking place while an interesting story unfolds. It is a pretty cinematographic experience, with some beautiful shots and photography,

Pros:

• Great visuals
• Excellent art direction
• Great gameplay
• Intense experience overall

Cons:

• Pacing suffers a bit
• Story might be confusing at times