I Hate This Place is an isometric survival adventure based on the comic book series of the same name. It has some interesting ideas and some clever twists on mechanics that are common in the genre. But those strengths are overshadowed by the fact that the work is not always done well.
A Good Idea That Has Problems
The game has a lot of creative ideas, but it has a lot of technical and mechanical problems. Controlling the game is hard, aiming is inconsistent, and some parts of the game are just too hard to enjoy. Instead of being interesting, it often turns out to be frustrating.
Bugs that stop progress are even more worrying. Sometimes, missions don’t start correctly while you’re playing, which can cause soft-locks that require full restarts. These problems make it hard to get into the game and take away from its more creative parts.
Setting and Story
Elena, a young woman looking for her missing friend Lou after a ritual goes horribly wrong, is the main character in the story. The game takes place in the same world as the comic series, but it tells a new story.
A Mystery Based on the Unknown
While Elena looks into things, she also has to deal with unanswered questions about her mother’s disappearance years ago. As she travels, she gets caught up in a world of cults, strange rituals, and secret experiments, all of which lead up to the threat of the Horned Man, a scary figure.
Rutherford Ranch Hub Explained
Rutherford Ranch is where you work. A lot of the game takes place around Rutherford Ranch, which is the main hub. Early missions teach players the basic mechanics and gameplay loop, making the experience easier for them.
Survival Systems and Resource Management
The game mixes light crafting systems with survival horror. Players can build things like workbenches, water towers, and gardens at the Ranch to keep their supplies stocked.
Crafting and Progression System
You can turn things you find in the world into useful things like food and bandages. As the game goes on, managing your resources becomes more important, especially when you go to places that are farther away from the Ranch.
Core Gameplay Loop
The game eventually settles into a predictable pattern: go back to the Ranch, get more supplies, and then go back out into dangerous territory.
Hunger Mechanics and Exploration Pressure
A separate hunger meter makes managing survival even harder. Not taking care of it won’t kill the player, but it will lower their stamina, which makes exploring feel like a constant pressure.
Resource Gathering and Inventory System
Elena can carry a lot of gear, and there are lots of things like wood and scrap metal in the world. Finding blueprints along the way unlocks new weapons and tools, which gives you more ways to play.
Side Content Overview
There are a lot of side quests in the game. Some are important to the main story and are necessary, taking players to creepy places like mines and bunkers.
Problems with Filler Content
Other side missions don’t feel as inspired because they rely on repetitive fetch objectives that don’t add much to the game other than making it longer.
Poor Onboarding and Tutorials
One of the worst things about the game is that it doesn’t give clear instructions. Important mechanics are never clearly explained, so players have to figure out how to use them by trying things out.
Frustrating Puzzle Design
Some places need very specific actions to be taken without any help. For instance, to move forward in one bunker, you have to shoot a small button that is easy to miss. The game never tells you this.
Stealth vs Combat Gameplay
Most of the time, missions are about exploring with some light fighting. You can play aggressively, but stealth is clearly the best way to go.
Environmental Hazards and Enemy Behavior
Hazards like broken glass and organic obstacles make noise when people move, so people have to be careful when they do. Enemies act in ways that are easy to predict, so avoiding them is a good plan.
Easy Exploits Reduce Challenge
Ironically, players can often bypass encounters entirely by sprinting past enemies, as they rarely pursue beyond room boundaries. This takes away from the tension that was meant to be there.
Combat System Overview
Combat works pretty well against bigger enemies and people with guns.
Issues with Smaller Enemies
Smaller enemies, like spiders, show big problems with aiming and responding. The targeting system often doesn’t register hits correctly, which makes these fights more annoying than fun.
Camera Limitations and Visual Style
The isometric view makes the game look different, but it also makes it hard to see things. Environmental factors, especially in small spaces like caves, can hide objects that are at certain angles.
Presentation and Voice Acting
The voice acting isn’t always good, but it’s great that they tried to voice all the dialogue in an indie game. The game looks good because it uses color well and has well-designed enemy models.
Ghost Stories Side Content Highlights
The optional Ghost Stories content is one of the most memorable parts. These parts require you to follow visual clues through recreated settings and find story details by looking for items that are spread out.
A Missed Opportunity
The investigative parts of the game are some of the best, and they show a path that could have been explored more fully.
Lack of Survival Tension
The overall sense of danger is lessened by how easy it is to avoid enemies, even though resource management is good.
Weak Atmosphere and Threat Level
The darker parts of the game seem more like small problems than real threats. More mechanics, like survival challenges at night, could have made the game more tense.
Game Length and Replay Value
The experience doesn’t last very long. Developers say that the game should take 8 to 10 hours to complete, but most players will probably finish it in 5 to 6 hours once they get the hang of the systems.
Final Verdict
I Hate This Place has some good points. It has some interesting ideas and moments that feel real, but technical problems, unclear design choices, and inconsistent execution hold them back.
Some of these problems may be fixed in future updates, but right now it feels like a bunch of good ideas that never quite come together. It might still be worth checking out for players who like strange survival horror, but they should keep their expectations in check.