The penultimate chapter into Supermassive’s The Dark Pictures Anthology is out now on PC and console in House of Ashes. Taking on another original storyline this episode features a group of soldiers dealing with an ancient evil deep within the tombs of Iraqi. The player’s individual choices with dialogue and actions will effect the outcome of the story like in previous entries.

House of Ashes is a 2021 survival horror game, it is developed by Supermassive Games and published by Bandai Namco. It is currently available on PC & console.

Editor’s Note: A Xbox One review copy for House of Ashes was provided by Bandai Namco in support of this review. Near complete spoilers may be present within this review.

The first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology is nearly complete with House of Ashes.

Since the release of their original title Until Dawn, Supermassive has become a bit of a fan-favorite of story driven games. With a narrative focused on horror dowsed within a supernatural bent, these titles often following some dark & twisted scenario. Though, it’s unlikely we’ll ever get a continuation of Until Dawn, Supermassive has continue the spirit of that game through their ‘The Dark Pictures Anthology’ franchise in partnership with Bandai Namco. Due to each episode being loosely connected to one another one of The Dark Pictures Anthology’s biggest mysteries is just how everything ultimately comes together in the big pay off.

Player choices and timing are your biggest threat.

THE GOOD: The game starts in Ancient Akkad with an ongoing war between the Akkadians and Gutian people. As the Akkadian King falls to madness he executes Gutian prisoners as blood sacrifices. A sudden arrival of vampiric like creatures intervene in the war killing many of both factions. Two survivors from the two vying factions work together to fight off one of the creatures but are attacked leaving their fates unknown. Back in 2003 Iraq, a group of soldiers led by Lt. Colonel Eric King are in the midst of the Iraq War. King’s team consists of Force Recon Marines Jason Kolcheck, Sgt. Nick Kay, and King’s wife Rachel whom he’s currently separated from but still loves. Unbeknownst to King, Rachel has been in a relationship with Kolcheck as the former attempts to patch things up.

Simultaneously an Iraqi soldier named Lt. Salim Othman who’s out looking for his missing son, but is forced to intercept King and his team who are stationed in an Iraqi dessert. After capturing some Iraqi loyalist, Salim’s group ambushes King’s team. As many in both parties are killed, a sudden cave-in sends the remaining members into an underground temple. King and a handful of his team survives the cave in & attack, as does Salim & his men. The groups spend much of their time avoiding one another as they regroup with their respective parties. It is revealed that in 1946 there was an expedition into the temple lead by Randolph Hodson, but they are attacked and ultimately killed by the vampires from the Ancient war. The same creatures attack King & Salim’s group leading to the discovery that the corpses can be reanimated into the creatures. The remaining forces of King align with Salim and as they go deeper inside the temple ruins they learn that the vampires are an alien race that crashed to Earth and became infected by a parasite that changed them into the vampire like beings.

The now vampiric creatures are harmed by sunlight and feed on human flesh which they can preserve for centuries through a unique fluid. An eclipse from earlier has blocked out the sun limiting King and his team’s chance to fight back. The new group find a large area housing thousands of the vampires and plan to use explosives to destroy them. Upon survival of a final attack the group is captured by the US government where they’re questioned on their experiences with a planned coverup being discussed.

House of Ashes is beautifully twisted.

If you’re a fan of interactive experiences then you’ll likely come to enjoy House of Ashes. The story is really entertaining for it’s odd eight or so hours of gameplay. I really dig the original take on a classic movie monster like vampires being former aliens who evolved via a parasite. Despite the super sci-fi bend there’s a ground of reality to that story. The character relationships altering between your choices made throughout your playthrough is a neat, powerful touch that brings a shade of near infinite replay possibilities. That in addition to their lives literally being in the hands of the player. If you’ve played the previous Dark Pictures Anthology entries you’ll know that player choice involved with character decisions also effect the story’s overall run. These decisions are open to dialogue tree options as well as in-game actions that the player can choose for a character to make each combination of which effecting the final ending of the game. Naturally, if you’re lucky enough you can survive the game with every single playable character alive and…well, well enough anyways. You can also find lore throughout the story, these are more so optional collectibles some of which provide warnings for potential upcoming pivotal moments such as character deaths.

Multiple endings provide tons of playability in House of Ashes.

THE BAD: Admittedly, I don’t think House of Ashes really does it’s horror much justice. I love a good creature feature, but even with as well done as the lore for the vampires is it’s just not a scary game. The story is as entertaining as it can possibly be, but the lack of true horror and scares really kind of drags the quality of the presentation down a bit. For what it’s worth I thought Supermassive’s initial efforts into this genre with Until Dawn was much scarier. There’s also times when the mechanics for player choice such as those that can determine the life and death of the main characters can tend to be a bit unfair. Like I get that’s ultimate part of the fear factor, but it also sucks missing a single button prompt that hurts to flat out kills a character because it came out pf no where. Not saying they have to scream a warning, but a tad more time to make a move would be appreciated.

House of Ashes gives a new spin on a classic monster.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes is a great stand alone continuation of the franchise. Though it has it’s weak points including a lack of real scares it’s presentation as a total horror package ultimately succeeds due to a strong story, script, and player choice dynamic.