Welcome to Hanwell Demo

The question “What makes a game scary?” has more than one answer, which is why the horror genre is so diverse and fun to explore. Some people want to be startled by loud noises of scary faces, but are not so keen on being traumatized by disturbing images or sad stories. On the opposite side of the spectrum are those who enjoy psychological horrors instead, since the sensation of fear lingers long after you are done playing.

Welcome to Hanwell is a first-person horror game with survival and puzzle elements, in which you have to explore a series of locations and uncover clues regarding the events that took place there. The whole thing takes place in some sort of parallel universe, given the fact that people are well aware of monsters and have taken measures to protect themselves against attacks.

The demo begins on the streets of the city, at night, and your first task is to find a weapon and a flashlight. However, once you reach the first building you have to investigate, it turns out that certain structures are “protected”, so you cannot carry weapons inside. However, certain weapons have managed to bypass this protection, which means that you are forced to go in defenseless. This helps a lot with the atmosphere and immersion, because there’s nothing scarier than being exposed.

Most of the gameplay revolves around finding things and uncovering information, so you are constantly walking, picking up useful items and interacting with various devices. The monster attacks are unpredictable, so you are always on edge, which is exactly how things should be in a proper horror game. The mystery is slowly revealed along the way, but the demo is too short to get an idea of the overall story.

Lastly, no horror game is complete without a good visual presentation, but Welcome to Hanwell gets high marks in this regard. The level design is great, sporting creepy long corridors, run-down classrooms and open outdoor scenes. The Unreal Engine 4 lighting effects are on point, and the textures are not too bad most of the time. On top of it all, the music is in tune with the atmosphere, which is rarely the case with indie productions.

In the end, Welcome to Hanwell is really up to something here, especially in terms of atmosphere and story. It can be a bit of a drag sometimes, but the execution is top-notch for an indie production.