The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes

 Xbox Series X
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
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Filmanwalt
    Oct 25, 2021
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand 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    We liked the setting very much, the narrow streets in this outdated system of ruins created an oppressive effect and made the demonic beings more threatening.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.    … Expand
  2. ILYAUKRAINE
    Jan 2, 2022
    10
    Потрясающая игра, с каждой частью все лучше и лучше.
  3. slaine130177
    Dec 14, 2021
    8
    3 ème épisode de la saga "The Dark Pictures", the house of ashes ne change que très peu la formule de base. On est face à un jeu purement narratif avec un gameplay limité, souvent synonyme de QTE. Les choix cruciaux sont toujours de la partie avec la possibilité de réussir le jeu avec tous les protagonistes en vie, ou aucun...
    Dans ce 3ème opus, on constate que la technique s'améliore    3 ème épisode de la saga "The Dark Pictures", the house of ashes ne change que très peu la formule de base. On est face à un jeu purement narratif avec un gameplay limité, souvent synonyme de QTE. Les choix cruciaux sont toujours de la partie avec la possibilité de réussir le jeu avec tous les protagonistes en vie, ou aucun...
    Dans ce 3ème opus, on constate que la technique s'améliore avec des décors plus "grandioses" et des textures plus travaillées même si tout n'est pas parfait.
    Niveau scénario, il est meilleur que le 2ème (little hope), mais je garde tout de même ma préférence pour le 1er pour le moment. Le doublage français est pas mal par contre la synchro labiale est souvent aux fraises.
    J'espère juste que pour la saison 2 (il reste encore 1 épisode à venir pour la saison 1), ils iront plus loin dans le gameplay et revenir à des titres plus jouables comme Until Dawn.
    Cela reste un très bon jeu pour ceux qui aiment le genre, ce qui est mon cas.    … Expand
  4. Daniel2009
    Jan 6, 2022
    10
    Awesome graphics incredible graphics interesting characters and story and great graphics
  5. 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!
  6. pressstartxyz
    Nov 4, 2021
    8
    https://press-start.xyz/recensione-house-of-ashes-tutto-non-e-cio-che-sembra/
  7. M-Reviews
    Nov 7, 2021
    5
    "The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes" is indeed a game full of horrors - unfortunately, you may just not find it where you´d really expect it. Mostly uninteresting characters and a boring story without any notable scares make the third entry in the series the weakest to date. It´s really hard to imagine how the franchise is attempting to survive another five years of sequels when"The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes" is indeed a game full of horrors - unfortunately, you may just not find it where you´d really expect it. Mostly uninteresting characters and a boring story without any notable scares make the third entry in the series the weakest to date. It´s really hard to imagine how the franchise is attempting to survive another five years of sequels when it´s already suffering from a complete lack of new ideas right now.… Expand
  8. DmitryKochurov
    Oct 25, 2021
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Это самая лучшая часть в серии. Интересный сюжет и самое главное полностью непредсказуемый, если опираться на стиль предыдущих частей. После добавления фантастики игра преобразилась и стала интереснее и неожиданной. Я сначала подумал, что опять какой-то газ или грибы или ещё что-то психотропное, а не тут то было) и за это сценаристам огромный плюс. Система выбора и последствий порадовала: приятно было думать о том, что мои решения приводили к тому, что персонажи оставались живы на протяжение всей игры и осознание того, что они могли погибнуть десятки раз в течение игры. В предыдущих частях было как-то не так. Игра очень кинематографична с неплохой графикой, но немного "деревянными" лицами)). Сами персонажи интересные. Интересно было наблюдать и принимать участие в их отношениях. В игре хорошая оптимизация. Огромный плюс за русскую локализацию и за привычные маты в разговоре, что придаёт диалогу между персонажами натуральности и реалистичности. Трейлер в конце игры к четвёртой части интригует, мне показалось, что будет что-то в стиле фильма "пилы" ) Спасибо за отличную игру. С нетерпением жду следующих частей. Вы сделали мои выходные ;)
    P.S. Критики в своём репертуаре. Поставить абсолютно субъективную оценку (69-74 балла) весьма неплохой игре и не побоюсь даже сказать, что одной из лучших игр этого года. Это далеко не проходняк. Поиграйте для начала и прочувствуйте игру, прежде чем ставить такие плохие оценки.    … Expand
  9. Ray6701
    Oct 25, 2021
    10
    Awesome game dude it's really awesome and incredible to play bro amazing man
  10. tdebug
    Sep 13, 2022
    5
    Interactive movie, which is relatively short and can be completed literally in two evenings. Some parts are difficult even in easy mode. In my opinion this must be available on gamepass or cost not more than a cinema ticket. This is not a game you want to pay even 29, not even talking about 59 or so - not worth it.
  11. DrZomboid
    Sep 3, 2022
    7
    A solid episode, better than Little Hope. But it could be much better. See you in The Quarry...
  12. d3uzZ
    Jul 29, 2022
    5
    5 ленивых сценаристов из 10, самая халтурная часть.

    Прошлые части имели свою уникальную атмосферу и шарм. От пугающего и холодного корабля в Man Of Medan до туманного городка Little Hope. Финальные твисты не разочаровывали и вызывали удовлетворение после прохождения. Тут же напрочь похерили все элементы хоррора и триллера превратив игру в обычный фантастический боевик. Не стоит своих    5 ленивых сценаристов из 10, самая халтурная часть.

    Прошлые части имели свою уникальную атмосферу и шарм. От пугающего и холодного корабля в Man Of Medan до туманного городка Little Hope. Финальные твисты не разочаровывали и вызывали удовлетворение после прохождения. Тут же напрочь похерили все элементы хоррора и триллера превратив игру в обычный фантастический боевик.

    Не стоит своих денег, брать строго по скидке на свой страх и риск.    … Expand
  13. WendyStamps
    Nov 11, 2021
    10
    Awesome game dude I love it so much its really amazing and it's really good
  14. Dstamps
    Nov 10, 2022
    10
    this game was entertaining the characters were likeable and the action was fantastic and the graphics were outstanding
  15. Joe2539
    Jan 3, 2023
    10
    Very Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good Good

Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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
  1. 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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
  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.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »