The Dark Pictures: Little Hope (2020) - Lost in a ghost town - 8/10 (03/01/21)

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope is the second entry in the interactive survival horror game series by British video game developer Supermassive Games. This video game available for Playstation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows was initially supposed to be released earlier this year but it was pushed back just in time for Halloween due to the coronavirus pandemic. If you appreciated the immediate predecessor The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan as well as Until Dawn, then you should certainly like this video game here as well. It certainly doesn't reinvent the genre but convinces with gripping atmosphere, interesting choices and overlapping story lines.

The game follows four college students and their professor who return from a field trip and need to take a detour via abandoned New England town Little Hope due to an accident on the main highway. Their bus however crashes in the thick fog and their driver mysteriously disappears. The five characters need to stick together in order to survive the night in the sinister town. As they explore a sinister bar, a forgotten cemetery, an old-fashioned factory, a creepy playground and a dusty police station, the five characters realize that something seems to be amiss about that town. They are haunted by mysterious flashbacks and encounters with ghostly creatures. They learn about fateful witch hunt trials that divided the community three and a half centuries ago at the beginning of the town's existence. The five protagonists also learn about a terrible house fire and a shocking factory closure that led to the town being shut down half a century ago. The three time lines slowly start to connect as the protagonists learn the stunning truth behind the mysterious events. The choices they make are not only going to determine their own fates but might even change the fateful events of the past.

This video game convinces on numerous levels. It takes about five and a half hours to play it from start to finish but offers much replay value due to multiple hidden scenes and a multitude of different endings. Little Hope has a creepy atmosphere right from the start that is carried throughout the entire game until a stunning ending that leaves no questions unanswered. The impacts of the different choices that can be made throughout the video game are often less immediately obvious than in the predecessor but might come back haunting the player towards the climatic ending. The three story lines are all very interesting and the way they have been interwoven progressively starts to make sense as the game goes on.

Another positive element is that the controls rely less on quick time events than in the predecessor which improves the overall fluidity. The controls are a little bit easier to handle in this game as well. The graphic and sound effects are very solid even though there could have been some more diversity regarding the overall soundtrack.

The voice actors did an excellent job here as well and increase the immersive atmosphere. Pip Torrens convinces as mysterious curator, Will Poulter does an excellent job breathing life into socially awkward but reasonable student Andrew. Ellen David incarnates mature but impatient student Angela. Caitlyn Sponheimer convinces as rebellious and vibrant student Taylor. Kyle Bailey incarnates more popular and sociable student Daniel who is however often conflicted regarding his opinions and fails to emerge as a positive leader. Alex Ivanovici plays professor John who is very intellectual but also very controlling.

The only negative elements that should be pointed out are that the game isn't particularly innovative and that the story line is somewhat predictable with an ending that I could actually see coming by a mile.

Still, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope is one of the most atmospheric, dynamic and entertaining video games in recent memory and highly recommended to anyone who likes to explore horror stories with a few twists on a cold autumn or winter day.