Despite more or less scathing reviews, the comedy-tinged logic and suspense game Hello Neighbor has sold two million copies since its release in 2017. After all, this one-of-a-kind genre fusion was a unique hit with younger audiences on Twitch and YouTube, where vocal streamers reacted in bloodthirsty ways Mr. Petersen (the neighbor the title refers to) and his mad gamer chase from Peterson’s mansion to his confused and spooky brain. Although the study Dynamic PixelsWhile it was clearly better at generating ideas than creating them, it’s worth acknowledging that the first game has a whimsical, slightly absurd, charm.
For this new part, I’m back in the same sleepy neighborhood; And it seems I’ve never been away. Graphically, unfortunately, not much has changed since last time either, and the slow, cartoonish, low-res block design that overshadowed the previous project’s worst technical flaws can’t be easily overlooked this time. Especially since a generational change took place during this time. Instead, the fast-paced Inspector Gadget-esque music is just as lush as I remembered it: subtle, jazzy, and slightly off-putting rather than full of garish effects.
But unfortunately not much has changed with Mr. Peterson either. In the beginning, I see him commit another of his murders, and my first mission is to enter the crime scene, past the cop who taped Peterson’s house, and into the basement. What happened between the murder and the arrival of the police is left up to interpretation, and I guess Dynamic Pixels weaved together so many puzzle scenarios that they failed to weave them into a coherent story. Because until I manage to sneak past the police (which before long becomes more of an annoying trial-and-error game than a startlingly hilarious game of cat-and-mouse) and bit by bit the puzzles, some simple, some unimaginable solve in detail, I ducked under some small wooden tables and gained access to the basement only to be thrown further out the front door, away from the crime scene.
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So with no reward from the first challenge, I’m left alone and lost in the driveway with an open residential suburb to explore the next destination. Now where am I going? I knock, somewhat hesitantly, on doorknob after doorknob, on every house, jump over hedges and peer through windows. I want to scream if there’s someone there; What should I do? When I’m fed up with nobody letting me in, I throw the pole I’m carrying at the windows, but every time I encounter the same stage noise. The seemingly open world is a lie, or at least an empty hub.
When I finally find the later challenges, they turn out to be nothing more than minor variations on the first. The same puzzle is repeated step by step in the cafeteria, where you first need to locate the item in the cat food bowl, find the key to the closet of that food, feed the cat to finally be able to get hold of it. completes the object and loop. All of this while one of Mr. Peterson’s henchmen (an anonymous and angry person in this case) is stalking me with completely arbitrary premises. I wonder if it would make a difference if I scurried across the hardwood floors instead of the soft carpets. And why does this bastard stay right in front of me (crouching under a table again) for over half a minute but he just stares at the table?
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Before releasing Hello Neighbor 2, the studio talked about advanced AI, an open world, much clearer goals and an engaging story that would deepen Mr. Peterson’s character and motivation. We received no more than one study which again showed that he was unable to put his ideas into action and also made it clear that he was running out of ideas. Do like the kids and watch Hello Neighbor 2 on YouTube or Twitch if you like. But please don’t spend your money on it.
