Hrot Review (December Man)
At the time of writing episode 3 is still not out.
Hrot is an amalgamation of several boomer shooters... and Stalker:
- Environment interactivity of Duke Nukem 3D, e.g. objects can be destroyed, pool and organs can be played, toilets can be flushed, camera footage can be viewed.
- Visuals and interface of Quake.
- Movement of Chasm: the Rift.
- Atmosphere of Stalker.
The drab and brown 'n' gray visuals do reflect the general feel of what the communist era was in Eastern Europe. It was sh*t. However, it also makes the game feel dull rather quickly.
Soundtrack is reminiscent of Chernobyl series: droning sounds, weird noises, all to create atmosphere more than a soundtrack that can be listened outside of the game.
Weapons are ok and follow the classic trope of pistol > shotgun > machine gun > rocket launcher.
Enemies present a decent challenge and have sufficient variety. Visually-wise the horse surprised me, not gonna lie. There are no hitscan enemies - only quick projectiles.
As for difficulty, I played it on hard and I'd say it's balanced. Not too hard, but there were moments where I had to reload the the save file several times.
Hrot is good, but I'd say it lacks a kind of spark that makes a game special.