Analysis: Horace – Xbox Zone

Today we bring you the analysis of the curious game Horace. This title was created by British video game developer Paul Helman and video game designer Sean Scaplehorn.. Both founded the video game development studio Paul Helman Games. Finally the title was born thanks to the distributor 505 games. Horace It’s not a new title for PC gamers who gave it a shot when it released in the summer of 2019. For console gamers, you already have it available for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Horace tells the story of a robot with an artificial intelligence of the same name as the title. This robot was designed with the purpose of helping out in a house, cleaning up all the trash and trash it finds. Its main objective will be topick up a million things“. However, little by little, he acquires new skills thanks to his former owner. He discovers that he has the ability to think for himself and begins to search for his purpose in life.. Throughout the game, Horace He meets other robots, humans and animals, and is involved in a plot full of crazy twists and surprises, which leads him to understand the value of friendship, family and the fight against evil.

Wacky main plot and charismatic characters

In Horace the main plot unfolds in several well-differentiated chapters. In each of these chapters we find an introductory cinematic and a clear objective. Throughout its development, we can find certain cinematic cuts that fill the story as we reach our main goal. His way of telling us the story mixes moments of tension, mixed with drama, surrealism, hooliganism, action and humor.. A combination th at will keep us alert at all times while waiting for a possible turn of events. Believe us when we tell you that you really can’t expect these twists, let alone their results. This allows the player to keep their attention at all times.

the characters of Horace They are well defined and we quickly see their particularities. Our little protagonist belongs to a family made up of two old men and their young daughter. We will soon meet a series of workers who could also be considered family. Due to events, this family will grow and we will meet new characters, each more particular. Each role of these characters is important for the development of our protagonist, in his perception of reality and to create his own humanity.

The main attraction of Horace are its mechanics and gameplay

This is perhaps the part that makes the most difference to Horace and the one that will keep us more addicted to the screen. At all times we are faced with a side-scrolling platformer. As we advance with our character, we will find certain traps, enemies or barriers that we will have to overcome either by jumping or by using its main mechanisms. Shortly after starting our story, our robot friend will receive magnetic shoes that will allow him to stick to walls. Also a little later you will get gloves that will allow you to carry heavy objects. These two mechanics, especially that of sticking to the walls, will be the ones that will come into play to mix with the player’s ability and avoid the various obstacles along the way. By bringing this mechanism into play, the screen rotates completely independently of the laws of gravity. A turn by one of the walls will modify the gravity of our character. However, the elements of our environment will follow the same law of gravity. We will have as a reference the necktie of our robot, which will always be guided by normal gravity.

¿Es Horace a difficult or accessible game?

Regarding the difficulty, Horace It has a very pronounced curve at many points, because it will take our expertise and ingenuity to find the best alternative to overcome obstacles without dying trying. Our robot will die indefinitely, thanks to the so-called “lazarus chip” which will bring it back to the beginning of the screen or the loading area in which it stayed. It gets us into a constant trial and error on each screen.

This difficulty is shortened thanks to some small spheres that we can obtain and improve the maximum number that we can carry. These spheres will give us one more opportunity to keep moving forward without returning to the start of the screen

. This aspect is especially essential for some bosses. To provide greater accessibility to all types of players with different abilities, if we die several times in the same area, the game will give us one of these spheres. If, despite this, we still do not succeed, the number of spheres will increase. I found this point very interesting to avoid the frustration of certain players, as well as to avoid a typing which pushes the player to leave the game.

Excellent graphics, music and sound section

The graphic style chosen in Horace it is pixel art style. Choice that suits you perfectly because of its homage to the arcade machines of the 80s/90s. Without greater graphic pretension than that of displaying a retro decor at all times. Horace it displays perfectly graphically and is particularly pleasing in more open environments.

Its musical section is not left out. The music used in Horace It is a perfect conjunction between different musical styles. For moments of calm, we can find more classic melodies, some of which we will be able to recognize. However, in moments of tension we can have melodies close to rock. This variety makes the player more immersed in the game and can come to feel parts of the story with endearing, sad, or pure action climaxes.

Regarding the dubbing, it is entirely in English, but subtitled in Spanish. The dubbing seems at first glance a good choice, using the voice transcription tool “locendo” in its British version. However, with the passage of cinematic scenes, in which great narrative content is addedthis resource becomes a bit heavy and very linear

. Despite this, the game manages to excite and create tension in equal measure, mainly thanks to the atmosphere they manage to create.

Final conclusions and personal opinion

As final conclusions, we will compile the most relevant aspects of Horace. First, I would highlight its gameplay. Something that is above all other aspects. In simple game, due to its simple mechanics, but with a difficulty that makes you get caught and hooked trying to avoid the different screens or scenes you face. Almost at the same time we find its musical section. Horace It’s one of those games whose songs repeat in your head the days you play it and even when you’re done playing it.. Eventually, Positive point, its accessibility is appreciated, especially for certain points in the story. This accessibility we talked about above and which prevents the player from getting frustrated and abandoning the game.

The part I would highlight as the most negative is the lack of an option to skip cutscenes. While it is true that in the main menu when starting the game it allows you to skip cutscenes, this option includes all cutscenes in the game and does not give the option to skip scene by scene. Finally, the dubbing of the voices, halfway through the main story where the narrative load begins to be more important, becomes a bit repetitive and boring.

Brief, Horace It is a highly recommended game, especially for lovers of platform games with a certain challenge or difficulty.. For a fairly affordable price, you have more than 20 guaranteed hours, full of funny, endearing and tense moments, at the controls of our beloved robot Horace.

Then we leave you with a small trailer where you can enjoy the gameplay that we have explained to you. If you liked this analysis, we invite you to keep checking our Xbox Area website, where we bring you news and analysis of the latest video games coming to our beloved Xbox.