Old Silent Hill and Resident Evil games feel different from action horror games like Dead Space and RE4 but Holstin combines them well.
Resident Evil 4 is an important game in horror history. It changed how horror games are made. Before games like Silent Hill focused on slow scary survival with few bullets and a fixed camera. Resident Evil 4 added more action and faster gameplay. This created a new type of horror game called action horror seen in games like Dead Space and Dying Light. A new game called Holstin combines both the old slow survival style and the fast action style.
It's 1992 in eastern Poland. Your best friend has disappeared. When you look for him you find a strange moving slime covering buildings and streets. The slime blocks paths and doors. People with orange sores try to hurt you. Even healthy people seem to be losing their minds. Some parts of the game are easy and straight. Other parts let you explore a town talk to people and do tasks in any order you want.
The feeling of fear never goes away. Holstin’s world is dark, small and always feels strange. It is like the old Silent Hill games where scary and weird things happen in an otherwise normal place.
Holstin feels like an old scary game. You find a locked door. You find a note. The note gives you a puzzle. Solve the puzzle to get a key. Use the key to open the door. You have enough supplies but it feels like you don’t. Instead of ink ribbons you use phone cards. You heal with herbs. But Holstin also has a surprise.
The camera isn’t locked in one place you can switch between eight different angles at any time. When you start a fight and aim your weapon the view changes to show your character from behind like in Resident Evil 4. This creates a mix of classic survival horror and modern action horror styles.
If the world of Holstin is meant to be strange and confusing playing the game feels the same way. You won’t actually get lost but the way your view keeps changing makes the world feel unreal and constantly shifting.
Horror games often face a common spiritual problem. Their stories and mood are based on dreams, cosmic fear and strange, surreal ideas. But because they are games they must also follow rules and systems. It's hard to create something truly mysterious and scary (like the monster in Amnesia) when the player can simply avoid it by standing in a shadow.
Holstin combines two different kinds of horror that usually don’t go together. It also tries to fix a common problem found in many horror games. There's no release date yet but you can try Holstin Now.
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