I Hate This Place

You have to be careful about calling your game "I Hate This Place", as some witty game journalists can quickly come up with jokes like "I Hate This Game" if the game doesn't quite hit the mark. Of course, we are too refined for that, and even though I Hate This Place isn't quite up to scratch, I don't hate it - but I am disappointed that it isn't better than it is.

I Hate This Place is described as an "isometric survival horror game" and is inspired by the comic books of the same name, written by Kyle Starks and illustrated by Artyom Topilin. The game was developed by Broken Mirror Games, a studio founded by former Bloober Team employees.

On paper, the game actually sounds quite interesting; there's the comic book inspiration, survival horror, a nice 1980s style and so on, but let's get a few things straight from the start: Firstly, it seems as if the game could have done with another 2-3 months in the oven, as it has a number of rough edges that collectively give the impression of a game that isn't quite finished. Secondly, I Hate This Place is much more of a survival game than a horror game, because it's not scary at all.

You take on the role of Elena, a young woman fighting for survival after she and her friend Lou accidentally summon a violent evil during a ceremony intended to communicate with a deceased family member. Lou mysteriously disappears, and Elena must now try to survive in a world where almost everything is trying to kill her as she searches for Lou.

As in so many other survival games, you spend the daytime hours gathering lots of resources and blueprints so that you can craft everything from health items and weapons to various equipment, food and ammunition - and at night, it's pure survival. This is when the monsters come out, and they are formidable enemies, so it is actually best to avoid them altogether if at all possible. Most monsters are blind and hunt only by sound, so you often have to sneak around quietly and keep an eye on the ground you're walking on. Mud, for example, makes squelching noises, and broken glass makes noise when you walk on it, so you have to be aware of your surroundings at all times.

So you move around in this hostile world and continuously unlock tasks and clues that can point you in the right direction towards Lou. You also unlock safe houses where you can save the game, store some of your resources, craft new items and sleep to refresh yourself and get ready to continue. All of this is spiced up with a little "management/builder" game, where you have to build various structures at Rutherford Ranch, your central safe house in the game, such as a workbench, an outdoor kitchen, various garden beds and a well, so you can fetch water and grow the crops you need to make the right food and many other things.

All this sounds very good, but the game is better on paper than when you actually play it. It just doesn't feel right. It feels clunky, the controls are a bit strange, the menus are a bit cumbersome to navigate, and overall, the feeling is just a bit off. And then there are some weird bugs here and there. It's hard to put your finger on anything specific, but it just feels a bit wrong, and overall you get the impression that this game could have used a little more time in the oven.

As mentioned at the beginning, the game has a nice 1980s vibe, so there is nothing wrong with the aesthetics as such, other than that it is all perhaps a little on the simple side. Unfortunately, the technical side lags a bit, but it's livable. However, once again, you get the feeling that the game could have used a few more months of optimisation and refinement - and yes, the voice acting is decidedly poor.

Now, the above may sound worse than it actually is, but if I Hate This Place had been put together a little more nicely and if the game had been given a little more love at the end, we would have had a nice little indie survival game on our hands. It has the ingredients, but as it stands now, there are simply too many rough edges to really enjoy it. If you're a hardcore survival fan, you'll probably be able to overlook the unevenness, but then you might find it all a little too simple.

I don't hate I Hate This Place, but I'm disappointed that it didn't end up in a better place, because it definitely has the potential to do so.