Sometimes, there comes experiences that are easy to categorize, especially when it comes to horror games. They're either bad or they're great, at least most of the time. Nightmare House is a Source engine game that takes some physics from Half-life and sometimes it works but sometimes... it really doesn't. The game improves over time because it took years to do many segments of it, but really, Half-life basically already did this.
You use the melee and the guns, you take down the zombies and you go through dark, foreboding areas in laboratories. Sometimes, you'll run into a ghost woman, much like you would run into G-Man in Half-life and she would vanish much like him. The game just doesn't really do anything to shake this up and it ends up kind of becoming Half-life from Temu.
That's not to say it's a terrible game. It has its high points, but as you play it, there just really isn't a great deal to keep you occupied. The atmosphere does its job well enough, it was just a little boring rather than suspenseful. The game was made with some heart, but you can see the edges of the painting and the cracks in the mirror at some points. This was obviously not a high budget AAA game, so not a lot of fault can be put upon it.
It's just when the jank really starts to show, this game takes a bit of a dive. There are areas that just look so unfinished, and the glitches can take you out of the experience when they happen. They happen quite a bit, in case you're wondering. The graphics are crude, but also not especially nostalgic. Jumpscares and disappearing ghosts just can't really save it from looking like it wanted to take place on planet Xen.
If you're in it to bash some zombies and look at some cheap scares, this is your baby. It's not especially enriching or all that fun, but it has its moments. It was on Steam for either nothing or next to nothing, so it was worth the cost to play it and the small bit of time you need to see if you like it. If you're looking for high quality, play Half-life or Left 4 Dead 2. Otherwise, chop up some zombies and knock over some cabinets with some passable physics. Go ahead, and remember to drink water.
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