Hektor presents itself as a good high quality horror game which will play with your mind while pushing you to the edge of your mental sanity.Hektor presents itself as a good high quality horror game which will play with your mind while pushing you to the edge of your mental sanity.
The game starts with you lying on the floor of Hektor, a secret underground base, and what you have to do, approximately for the entire game is to walk, walk around every room trying to find something. Unfortunately this is all you get about Hektor's plot at the beginning, and even in the late game you won't find much more information about the plot, the game will lead you to some notes and an external voice will tell you some tips, but there is not any clear explaination as someone may expect since the plot and the atmosphere are very fascinating.
Talking about the atmosphere, Hektor succees in offering the player a very dark and obscure atmosphere with very few lights and a lot of dark places to explore. The procedural generation of the level is very well done and can bring you the edge. However you don't have to worry about the difficulty of the game if you are wondering how you are supposed to find the way if the level keeps changing. The algorithm is designed to lead you to the right place after a while, and this design choice may sound stupid but it is completely ragionable if you image how fun would be playing in a labirint which changes every corner you pass.
The graphic compart is actually very good for an indie game. The wobble effect caused by the loss of mental sanity of our character, a similar mechanic found in Amnesia, is a well made choice since it pushes you to explore the level, in order to find pills, but the excessive post-processing could be annoying after a while, specially if you consider the lack of Benzo supplies in Hektor.
The Horror factor: we could talk all the day about the plot, the game design, the graphics and so on, but what we all expect in a horror game is to be frightened, and Hektor succeeded in that. Hektor starts slow, with a dark atmosphere a good sound sector which decorates the exploration. Then, after a while, it suddenly eccelerate switching from the atmosphere (something there will always be, anyway) to the real fear. Without spoilering anything I can only say that you will be afraid and a lot of well made creatures will hunt you non stop, pushing you to the edge even more.
Bad aspectes:
_No direct plot evolution: all you know about the story of this place is written in random notes you can find around and you have to guess what is going on and why. No cut-scenes, no explaination.
_Short life time: unfortunately the game ends in something like 4-5 hours, it really depends on how quickly you discover the way to get out, and how scaried you are.
_High price: 19 euros for the game is really an high price if you consider the duration of the productor. It's not that the game itself doesn't worth that money but the duration of the game doesn't.
Positive aspects:
_Procedural generated: a very very good way to make every play session different. The game always changes its levels, even when you get into a room. It's not that kind of game where you have to reload the game to actually make it changes. You can enter a room and when you get out have no idea where you are since it changed again. This choice (regulated to prevent you to loose to keep the gameplay fun) attenuate the short life time aspect since you could play several times and walk through different ways every time.
_Well done atmosphere: Hektor enjoys a well done creepy atmosphere, possible thanks to a good graphic and audio compart. The atmosphere lasts for all the game and will never leave you.
_A Horror game: for my personal experience, this is a very well made Horror game, a game which understood the meaning of horror and applicated to itself, providing a very good and valid horror experience.
_Good dosed experience: this game is NOT a type of game where all the fear comes from some random stupid jumpscares. Hektor is very good dosed. It has jumpscares, but it also has some slow and identifications parts. Nothing is pushed over the limit, everything has its right place in the gameplay.… Expand
