Every entry in The Dark Pictures Anthology series brings something unique to the table. Man of Medan was set on a ghost ship. Little Hope was a spooky tale involving witches wherein the heroes were lost in the woods. House of Ashes sees a group of soldiers lost in an ancient civilization.
Is House of Ashes the best of the bunch so far? In some ways it is, but again, every game has something special in it. A bad or weaker entry for some may be an excellent game for others. Looking at the series logically, let’s run through what they all do best with House of Ashes as the short lead.
Spoilers are peppered throughout the article.
6 Better: The Set Piece
As a refresher, Man of Medan was primarily set on an ancient ship in the middle of nowhere. Little Hope took place in the middle of the woods after a bus crashed. Finally, House of Ashes takes place in the ruins of Akkad.
Man of Medan has a fun, classic setting that brought chills to players. The woods can always be scary as Little Hope proved but it was also a bit uninspired. House of Ashes blows both games out of the water because the ruins are not only a cool location for a horror story but for video games as a whole. The way in which the game plays with darkness and light is a triumph in Akkad.
5 Worse: Characters
The characters collected in House of Ashes are hard to sympathize with. They’re the most unlikeable group in the series because of their enthused nature. There’s also a lot of racism thrown in; while this is true to the time in which this game takes place, Iraq circa 2003, that doesn’t make it any easier to watch.
Eric is trying to find Saddam’s hidden bunker of nukes which leads the team into the ruins of Akkad. The only immediately likable character of the bunch is Salim, who seems to be the only one that understands he is in a horror story. The point of these games is to show flawed characters grow, which can happen with some personalities in House of Ashes based on choices made by the player. Overall, the other two games have more balanced casts.
4 Better: The Supernatural Twist
For the first time ever in the series, House of Ashes is a real supernatural story. The other two had explanations behind the crazy things happening in their stories even if they didn’t make sense. In Man of Medan, there is a leaking crate of gas on the ship that makes everyone hallucinate.
In Little Hope, everyone is within someone’s imagination. The witch visions don’t really add up but neither do the visions of other characters in the game. House of Ashes still has a twist though in that the vampires are also aliens. It’s very bizarre but at least it is really supernatural for once.
3 Worse: The Premise
The supernatural fiction of space vampires is interesting, but the overall setup in House of Ashes is weaker. This can fall back once again to the characters and their motivations. Playing a game in 2021 about finding nuclear silos in Iraq in 2003 just feels too dated. The other games fit the horror mold better.
Vacationers winding up aboard a “ghost ship” is a tried and tested idea that worked well in Man of Medan. Having the characters get lost in the woods in Little Hope only to find themselves in a purgatory-like nightmare was also creepy. The core ideas of Man of Medan and Little Hope are more interesting than House of Ashes', even if the former two's end revelations may rub some gamers the wrong way for not truly being science fiction tales.
2 Better: Accessible Options
House of Ashes has the most accessible options in the series yet. It seemed like the developers took a lot of feedback to heart when they were making this game overall. The story was truly supernatural now, which seemed to be a problem some fans have with the other two games. The options in House of Ashes help make the game more accessible for more types of players.
The Quick Time Event prompts that pop up can be random. Some people just can’t react that fast. Being able to slow down the time required along with opting in for one single button choice make House of Ashes easier to conquer. On the narrative side of things, the choices players have to make in House of Ashes are still difficult though.
1 Worse: Takes Awhile To Get Going
Horror games and films can take a while to get going. These premises need to set characters up, which is true for Man of Medan and House of Ashes. Again, it’s hard to get interested in the story before the ruins in House of Ashes due to the characters. Man of Medan is also slower but interesting because of the dives and the pirates.
Little Hope has the best intro of the trio as the bus crash happens almost right away. There is a beginning flashback with another set of characters, but even this set piece doesn’t last that long. For horror fans that want the scares to start as soon as possible, Little Hope is the best choice.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes was released on October 22, 2021 and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.