The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes

While not perfect, Supermassive Games hears players and House of Ashes is the best release in the Dark Pictures Anthology to date. The improved game mechanics, environment and story make it a creepy experience that is perfect for Halloween.

At the end of the day, if you already liked The Dark Pictures games, you should really enjoy House of Ashes. Its story is unique, complex, interesting, and suspenseful without relying on cheap scares. If you didn’t like Little Hope or Man of Medan, but are still open to enjoying the series, House of Ashes is worth giving a shot.

House of Ashes adds little to the Dark Pictures formula, and doesn't seem to progress the anthology's overarching plot. That said, it's still a great adventure with some jaw dropping visuals and action-packed set pieces. A solid addition to the franchise.

House of Ashes will not be remembered as a horror masterpiece in video games, but it is a good excuse to gather friends or family for a different night; already almost traditional. And thanks to that, the experience earns many points.

House of Ashes is a fun horror romp. There's nothing subtle to be found here and the game is all the better for it, with exciting set pieces and a fast-paced story. It has its issues, both technically and with not really having anything interesting to build into its Iraq War setting, but it's still a hoot to play.

The promise of the Dark Pictures series remains fresh, then, but the systems supporting it are staring to creak with age. [Issue#366, p.119]

If only House of Ashes were possessed with something malevolent enough to actually scare us; sadly, it commits a litany of sins, none of them original.

Spoiler-Free Review: The Dark Pictures Anthology – House of AshesI just finished House of Ashes on PC, and I had a fantastic time playing it. This cinematic horror-action game blends mystery, suspense, and quick decision-making in a way that really kept me engaged throughout. I clocked about 12 hours and enjoyed every minute of it.What stood out most was the atmosphere and pacing—it feels like you're playing through an interactive movie. The tension builds well, and the story branches in interesting ways depending on your choices. I completed the game three times, and each run felt different. Trying to reach the ending where all characters survive was both fun and challenging.Visually, the game is a mixed bag. Some characters look incredibly lifelike and are acted brilliantly, while others still have that slightly awkward, animated look. The game also has a few technical hiccups; I experienced some glitches and occasional crashes. Nothing game-breaking, but worth mentioning.I played solo, using an Xbox controller, and found it way more intuitive than mouse and keyboard. That said, I’m sure playing with friends in multiplayer would make it even more **** in all, House of Ashes is the strongest title in The Dark Pictures Anthology so far. It delivers great storytelling, high replayability, and solid thrills. I highly recommend it to fans of narrative-driven horror games.Final Score: 10/10

I have enjoyed this game. I had never pleayed a game of this series but I found it an interesting concept. Must play if you want a pause between games.

Graphics: 8 / Gameplay: 6 / Story: 8 / Lore/Soundtrack: 7 / Total: 7,25 = 7

Ayant déjà joué à Until Dawn et Man of Medan, on est quand même un cran en dessous de Until Dawn. La durée de vie est plus intéressante que Man of Medan (environ 5 heures), mais malheureusement j’ai eu du mal à rentrer dans l’histoire. Les animations faciales, gros point fort de ces jeux d’habitude, sont pour le moins…étranges. Par ailleurs j’ai eu l’impression que nos actions avaient beaucoup moins d’impact que dans les jeux précédents, et franchement on ne joue pas souvent, ce qui est assez lassant à la longue. Les voix françaises du jeu ne sont pas terribles. Il y a néanmoins des personnages intéressants, l’histoire est correct (même si très vite répétitive) et le mode soirée télé rajoute un côté fun et convivial au jeu.

The premise of The Dark Pictures Anthology is that choices matter and have consequences however the problem with House of Ashes is that I didn't really care. Given the upwards success of the previous titles I came into this expecting a brilliant game with great story telling and 'edge of your seat' moments but House of Ashes simply doesn't have that. When choices got to a life or death situation, the lack of attachment I had to the characters made me pick a choice not for the 'I like this character, I'm going to pick this because I want to try and help them survive or escape' but 'I'm going to pick this because it looks a lot more interesting and fun' leading to multiple deaths in my first play through. This is the complete opposite to what I would've picked in the previous games which is what made them so fun and thrilling to play - the choices you do get though are interesting at times and despite not having any feeleings to the characters, you are given a good amount of 50/50 'not sure what to do moments' but not enough to save what could've been a good game with an interesting premise. The story is weak throughout most of the game, a poor narrative and boring personalities makes it a chore to play. There's some characters I think would've made the game more fun if they were simply not inluded. The dialouge at times was just tedious to sit through and the most exiting thing to come from some of these characters was the physical decision you got to pick for them to do and not the rubbish that comes out their mouth. Like previouis games, what you decide for them to say to each other affects their relationship and personality traits but the game doesn't make it too clear on what this actually does in terms of decision making further down the line. I made 1 character absolutely hate a certain individual but the choices I got to pick from between them made no sense, it's like they were on good terms and my previous actions changed nothing? A plus for the game is you're able to move the camera now and it's not stuck in a '1 camera position' like the previous games which could be terrible at times however with how enjoyable they were, this was something that I wasn't too fussed about. The only reason I made it through the full game is because I was playing with my partner. I don't think I could've made it through playing by myself. I will be picking up the next game but this is simply down to the fact I had a lot of fun with Man of Medan and Little Hope and have hope the exciting story and characters can return to the final game of series 1 which The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes completely missed.