Hektor is a psychological horror game that will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s played the new ‘brand’ of horror titles along the lines of Outlast and Amnesia. It’s a dark, first person experience where you must explore your environs unarmed, while making sure to keep an eye out for consumables, key items and notes. Ostensibly this all takes place in a now defunct research facility called Hektor where for years you were tortured, driving you into deep madness. There’s not much exposition, but essentially you wake up in the abandoned facility and must try to escape.

You are equipped initially with just a lighter and some benzo pills, but go on to find other sorts of pills, as well as a flashlight that needs to be restocked with batteries – all of which you can find scattered around the levels (on shelves, desks, etc.). Generally speaking, the lighter was good enough to get me through most of the game, so saving and searching for batteries was never really a concern – although the flashlight is definitely a more potent source of light. The pills that you procure along the way are used to abate your psychosis, which if left un-medicated will lead to your surroundings changing shape and swirling around, and all kinds of other nauseating effects (thankfully there’s an option to turn down these effects, if you find them uncomfortable).

 

But what makes this two hour, first person horror title stand out? That would be procedural generation. Yes, the levels undergo changes – sometimes insignificant, yet noticeable changes, such as notes and consumables being in places they once weren’t; but also more game changing alterations, such as previously accessible routes no longer existing, or corridors leading to different areas. It’s quite a nicely implemented mechanic – not only does it vary the level design, making future plays more worthwhile and keeping you on your toes as you explore, but also it creates an appropriate sense of confusion. Your character is struggling with his sanity, so not everything that he witnesses is clear or consistent. And I didn’t have a problem with this aspect of the game. Although you may expect wandering around unclear environments could be frustrating, the levels are contained enough to avoid this becoming the case – yes, this corridor leads to a different area, but there’s only a choice of two others, so it won’t take long to find the correct path.

There’s not much in the way of other gameplay mechanics. You solve the occasional item related problem (for example, find a tape to play on a tape player that will show you the location of a key card), and you will run into a monster now and again (or more likely it will run into you, as it seems to be pursuing you for most of the game); but the rest of the game is simply exploring – eventually seeing you progress to the next area, as well as finding notes that reveal some of Hektor’s secrets. It’s an atmospheric game – very dark and creepy, with whispers and voices plaguing you as you explore – and it has a nice soundtrack and some good voice acting (all of the notes are accompanied by audio).

It’s not just another generic horror title, and has an effective style and premise. So why do I give Hektor an average score of 5/10? Because it’s short and it’s messy. It has some good ideas, which I’ve described, but most are badly implemented or lacklustre. For example, the idea of having a constant dynamic altering your experience (the psychosis) is not a bad one – it might make for some tense gameplay, as you ration your pills and keep a keen eye out for any more lying around – but this mechanic isn’t clearly presented. It’s clear from the beginning that these pills are important to keep your character from falling deeper into insanity, but I genuinely saw no difference when I took them. I couldn’t work out whether I was doing something wrong, or if the mechanic simply didn’t work.

The enemies also manage to be both hilariously buggy (getting stuck going up stairs, or glitching through doors) and massively overpowered. You are unarmed and need to run away – games like Amnesia and Outlast contain this angle as well, but in those games there is some distinct tactic for avoiding or escaping enemies; in Hektor they just turn up randomly, and nine times out of ten you’re screwed when they do. The enemies aren’t so much a severe threat as an annoyance.

While the level changing/confusing presentation generally works in the game’s favour, there were other aspects of the game’s design that fell short. The ‘puzzles’ aren’t really puzzles, and are only challenging because the textures sometimes obscure important items (items generally flash when they can be interacted with, but there was a certain pipe blocking a generator that remained elusive for quite some time). And there are parts of the game that just seem a bit weird, like they aren’t properly developed. For example, at one stage I needed to get a lift working. Although there was a switch to turn on the power, a part was missing. I see the part elsewhere, but can’t get to it because it’s surrounded by water. I notice that there’s another side to the switch, so press it thinking perhaps I couldn’t enter the water because it was electrified or something along those lines, but I still can’t enter. I run around confused for a while, keep on getting killed by a monster and am then suddenly, for no apparent reason, able to enter the water. It was a situation where I couldn’t work out whether I was doing something wrong, the game was broken, or it was just being nebulous – either way, it wasn’t much fun.

As for the story and setting, what seemed initially to be quite a compelling narrative (gradually finding out more from notes – including some pretty dark moments) doesn’t really expand, and ends rather abruptly without explanation. I understand that the developer is a small team, but it seems like a rushed game. There’s a good atmosphere to Hektor and some interesting gameplay dynamics, but these are mostly held back by their implementation. I think the game is commendable for trying something a little different, but the execution is a bit sloppy and it ultimately effects the enjoyment of the game.

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