The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes

 Xbox Series X
Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
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  1. Xbox Tavern
    Oct 28, 2021
    96
    The Dark Pictures games so far have set high bars in terms of story and production quality, and House of Ashes easily hits and even occasionally surpasses them. While I wasn’t so keen initially on one aspect of the tale, it turned around completely on a second play, but even to begin with it was nowhere near enough to ruin what is a fantastically acted and put together story, wrapped up in some of the most stunning audio visual work to date. Horror games are hardly in short supply, but very few reach this level of brilliance.
  2. TheXboxHub
    Nov 9, 2021
    80
    Despite the slow nature of the first half of House of Ashes, when it gets into its stride it is a homage to classic science-fiction action horror titles that will leave you on the edge of your seat. The scares may not be as obtrusive as the previous titles in the anthology, but this may then appeal to those that aren’t necessarily horror fanatics.
  3. Malditos Nerds
    Nov 9, 2021
    80
    House of Ashes is a great interactive adventure and offers a fantastic story, with a great dose of terror and claustrophobia, and also action and some of the best conflicts between characters in the entire anthology.
  5. GamingBolt
    Oct 21, 2021
    80
    There’s an immediate familiarity for House of Ashes in the Dark Pictures catalog, but this entry is as thematically complex and consequently engaging as any game in the series so far.
  6. Generación Xbox
    Nov 4, 2021
    78
    House of Ashes is the third game of the anthology, a very cinematic game where we see a clear evolution in the decisions and improvements in the QTE. But the control of characters and their factions continues to fail.
  7. SomosXbox
    Nov 2, 2021
    77
    House of Ashes is the best game of The Dark Pictures Anthology due to its interesting history and its excellent artistic and design section, all this despite some problems that are already a constant in the saga.
  8. ZTGD
    Nov 10, 2021
    75
    At the end of the day, I still enjoyed my time with House of Ashes. It is the best story so far in the series and even with the issues I had with both the glitches and gameplay, this was a decent time overall. If you have played the series this far, you know what you’re getting into. If you want to give this one a shot to see what The Dark Pictures is all about, you can’t be this one’s story and premise. Just keep in mind, there will be some really strange bugs that come along with it.
  9. Jeuxvideo.com
    Oct 29, 2021
    75
    House of Ashes does not distort the philosophy of Supermassive Games. While retaining the cinematic staging of The Dark Pictures saga, this third episode now offers a 360 ° camera and better integrated QTEs. Thanks to its controlled rhythm, its claustrophobic atmosphere and its interesting plot, it surpasses its predecessors despite its flaws (uneven writing, cartoonish characters, frozen shooting phases…). For anyone who enjoys interactive experiences of the genre, this latest iteration of the anthology is worthy of curiosity.
  10. GameSkinny
    Oct 21, 2021
    70
    In all, House of Ashes feels marginally better than Little Hope, which I felt was certainly better than Man of Medan. That means The Dark Pictures entries are, by my measure, on an upward trajectory, and I sincerely hope Supermassive is able to make more of them. While I don't think this series has achieved its full potential yet, I think it's just one really great script away from achieving that. As a game, The Dark Pictures is in a great place now. As a script, this third entry in the series goes for The Descent and winds up only decent.
  11. We Got This Covered
    Oct 21, 2021
    70
    Although it may lack the over-the-top thrills of previous entries, House of Ashes is perhaps the best entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology to date. The cast of characters is strong across the board, and the story boasts a satisfying conclusion previous titles struggled to provide.
  12. Xbox Achievements
    Nov 2, 2021
    55
    The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes is a fun enough way to pass a few hours, and is a lot more enjoyable when you get a few friends involved. But as a cinematic story, it's far too forgettable, with writing that's never better than 'fine' with performances to match.
  13. MondoXbox
    Oct 21, 2021
    50
    The Dark Pictures: House of Ashes is unfortunately a step backwards compared to the previous episodes of the series, at least in terms of the script, atmosphere and technical realization. The affordable price makes it interesting for those who don't want to miss a single chapter of the anthology, but others should turn to the previous chapters or wait for a possible fourth episode capable of bringing the horror series back on the right tracks.

Awards & Rankings

50
#50 Best Xbox Series X Game of 2021
44
#44 Most Discussed Xbox Series X Game of 2021

User Reviews

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User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 86 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 73 out of 86
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 86
  3. Negative: 8 out of 86
  1. Filmanwalt
    Oct 25, 2021
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. It took me almost 5 1/2 hours in co-op for this interactive survival action "horror". I also played the predecessors in co-op and overall House of Ashes is the best part for me. In retrospect, part 1 was rather weak, part 2 does it better and part 3 ultimately the strongest.

    Nevertheless, you don't get your money's worth in terms of horror, House of Ashes is much more geared towards action. But that doesn't really bother me, for me personally there isn't much good horror anyway (regardless of whether it is a film or a game).

    the atmosphere

    We liked the setting very much, the narrow streets in this outdated system of ruins created an oppressive effect and made the demonic beings more threatening. The game has a fabulous staging that is graphically pretty, but has to deal with bugs and texture errors. The reloading of textures in cutscenes was already done in a very high density (Series X). The facial expressions were also a bit bumpy in places, which is a shame, especially with such a game that is more of a film than a game.

    But I found the presentation itself outstanding, because a lot is staged by numerous video sequences. The cut scenes in particular were pretty good.

    story

    It's just more action than horror. The Iraq war had to serve as the starting point for the setting, but the whole thing then turns into very exciting and sometimes surprising twists and turns. I hadn't really expected to explain where the "demons" come from, even if you probably know it from well-known film adaptations. I just didn't think about it and was then all the more surprised and, above all, positively surprised how the game was developing. Even at this junction in the story relatively at the end, the scenery is really good again and grows beyond itself.

    I basically all liked the characters, even if some of them were very questionable characterizations, but that's part of the character. Otherwise, in terms of dialogue, it is not the yellow of the egg, to put it cautiously, but there are really worse things. I found the conversation with the two "warring" soldiers' factions at the end very strong.

    For me a significant increase in story building, but also nothing special here. To be honest, I never approached the Dark Pictures Anthology with the expectation of experiencing the finest storytelling. It just goes with everything in the background.

    Gameplay

    Well, you know what to expect in terms of gameplay. That is not much. It's just more of an interactive film without great gameplay. Sometimes a Quicktime event here to explore something in the form of a walking simulator. It's banal and suggests a little more freedom in exploring, especially in the catacombs or the temple area, but it's still very, very limited. Here the game could have offered a little more gameplay sections, which does not mean that the cutscenes should be shortened.

    The co-op worked very well for the most part and is divided up in an interesting way. My colleague could then make a comparison in the stream from time to time and there were clear differences until the characters were brought back together or not (4/5 or 4/6 survived with us, I don't even know how much those were). These differences existed right at the beginning of the tutorial, where everyone had completely different video sequences.

    SORRY, we had desynchronizations from time to time, so that sometimes it did not go on because one of them had reached progress faster or connection errors (despite a two-sided perfect connection). Fortunately, this only led to going into the main menu for a short time and accepting loading times because the co-op partner was still playing on a One X. Annoying and definitely open to criticism, but not a complete break because the save points were set well.

    Conclusion

    So far the best part of the series for us and very fun, exciting and also surprising. Unfortunately, the horror is neglected again. 8/10 demons.    … Full Review »
  2. EllanyBarnes
    Jan 8, 2022
    10
    This one is definitely the best of the series. Each game is getting better and better and I cannot wait until the next installment!
  3. Daniel2009
    Jan 6, 2022
    10
    Awesome graphics incredible graphics interesting characters and story and great graphics
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