Hollowbody Reviews
Hollowbody is a well-structured and easy-to-understand horror experience, but it undermines itself through several technical and design shortcomings.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Inspired by classic survival horror games, Hollowbody knows how to appeal to nostalgic players with its fixed camera angles and backtracking mechanics. However, it falls short by delivering an unimpactful story and uninspired enemies, failing to create the level of tension that is essential for the genre.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
"Psychological Horror in a Suffocating Environment" Hollowbody delivers a psychological horror experience that relies heavily on atmosphere. It succeeds in creating a visually and aurally oppressive world, with a mysterious narrative that fosters curiosity and exploration. Despite some flaws in the combat and puzzles, it remains a solid experience for fans of classic horror who seek slow-burn tension rather than straightforward action.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
It’s a well put together collection of what I love about the old school games, and Hollowbody holds it all together with a compelling, dark tale, and decent puzzles and progression. That the controls don’t quite work as well as we’d like is a small downer – it’s far from unplayable, just a little more awkward than we’d hope – but it’s not enough to make this any less than a solid recommendation to retro survival horror fans all the same.
As a survival horror game, Hollowbody aims for a more narrative-driven approach, supported by a dystopian and oppressive atmosphere. However, its uninspired environments, unsatisfying combat, and inability to generate meaningful tension ultimately leave it feeling inconsequential.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Hollowbody may become a bit rote halfway through the campaign, but what it lacks in scares and innovative gameplay is more than made up for with an atmospheric world, great sound design and multiple endings, all of which I wanted to see. Hollowbody hits all the beats of early survival horror games to a tee, making it a perfect, short-lived treat for retro-style game lovers.
I was disappointed with everything Hollowbody had to offer. The story was underwhelming, combat was worse than janky, and there was no real build up at all. You spend a large amount of time just walking, and although there are enemies, they can mostly be bypassed with only a few being needed to be killed. The puzzles are okay, but even they feel that mid-way and near the end they just gave up. Since some of the puzzles later on are all just next to each other, when the apartment complex had you checking out different floors for items. For such a short game, I expected a bit more depth to the actual story. I don’t think I could really recommend Hollowbody to anyone, so I am giving it the Thumb Culture Bronze Award.
While playing through Hollowbody, I found the game’s world to be quite interesting to explore, as the various locations that varied from small, cramped locations to large expanses with twisting and turning paths were very fun to explore and had me on edge constantly as I waited to see what area I could explore next. In terms of the gameplay within Hollowbody, I enjoyed the combat very much, with it being very challenging, especially due to the various camera angles and the limited amount of ammo. However, there were occasions in which I found the combat to be rather glitchy, especially when the camera began to bug out. Along with the combat, I also enjoyed the puzzles within the game, even with one puzzle causing me distress, as most of the puzzles were very intuitive and made sense, creating an easy path forward for me throughout the game. The overall story of Hollowbody was very compelling, and I was constantly curious as to what had caused the world to decline into what it was, finding as many lore documents as I could so I could learn more about the game’s history, while also being rather curious about how the game would end, and especially what ending I would earn by the end of it.
Overall, Hollowbody continues the tradition of Headway games, a survival horror game that keeps you on the edge of your seat. You are given the direction of the story at the start, then it is up to you to write the remainder with minimal input or prompts from the developers. If survival horror is your genre, jump in and support this indie dev. While you won’t have days of enjoyment, there are still a good few hours you can sink into this title.
I hate how harsh this sounds because the truth is Hollowbody is a labor of love. Developer Headware Games seems to be a mostly solo affair and the parts of Hollowbody that work are incredibly impressive. The fact a one man team cannot only produce something so close in tone and intensity to the peaks of the genre and even get it published on console is frankly inspiring. But it just has too many hiccups to come together the way it wants to.
Hollowbody runs the line between “inspired by” and “clone of” survival horror games of the late 90s and early 2000s. Overall, it’s a very effective game with a simple story and gameplay that anyone can pick up. With a few issues here and there, Hollowbody transitions from PC to console effectively. If you’re a fan of this genre, you’ll get a great few hours of what you like. Can you ask for more?
There is a real game here, and there is a clear vision behind it. For fans of old-school survival horror who are hungry for fixed cameras, oppressive silence, and lonely exploration, Hollowbody is worth checking out, especially on sale. Just go in expecting a strong mood piece more than a fully satisfying horror story.
By pushing itself into the same room as the classics and deliberately evoking them, Hollowbody does itself a disservice.
Hollowbody deserves the attention of any fan of classic survival horror. The game manages to capture the essence of the great titles of the 90s with great skill.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Hollowbody is a pretty impressive game, especially one crafted by a solo developer. It reminded me a lot of 2021’s Tormented Souls, a Resident Evil clone that didn't look to reinvent the genre, but to contribute to its roots and provide that type of experience. There is enough here to keep you motivated to see it through, even if most of its environments tend to repeat a lot of the same overall aesthetics. It’s certainly a game of its inspirations and often does the genre right.
Hollowbody is a love letter to early turn-of-the-century horror. It’s not the most elegant at dealing with the pieces; some of the puzzles vary wildly in difficulty, enemies are fairly generic and the game is pretty short but you know what? I think, for the fact that this is a solo developer and it’s not highly priced it’s still a solid recommend from me.
While Hollowbody is a beautifully designed survival horror game visual and audio-wise, its clunky controls and camera which has a mind of its own made it very frustrating to play.
Hollowbody deserves a spot beside the best of the PlayStation 2-era Silent Hill games. In its gameplay, story, and aesthetics, Hollowbody pays homage to its inspiration while putting clever twists on the genre that Silent Hill pioneered. It may not be the most original, but it is undoubtedly one of the best survival horror games of 2024.
Hollowbody is a survival horror game that takes players back to the nostalgic era of classic PS2 horror games. Inspired by titles like Silent Hill 2, the game offers psychological horror, challenging puzzles, and intense combat, all accompanied by atmospheric audiovisual cues. It captures the essence of survival horror while introducing modern conveniences that’ll have veteran players coming back for more.
Hollowbody is like a love letter to the old PS2 horror games and all of their many tropes. It’s a great change of pace that’ll keep you on your toes while getting a little blast from the past. The visuals might not be the greatest, but that’s what adds so much to the atmosphere. If you’re a fan of the old horror games, you’ll have a hell of a time with Hollowbody and it’s many tropes.