Hollowbody PlayStation 5 Review: A Nostalgic Nightmare You Can’t Miss

The rain-soaked, crumbling streets of a dystopian British exclusion zone threaten to swallow you whole, dripping with a suffocating fog and thick tension that immediately pulls you into its grim world. Stranded and desperate after your hover crashes, you are forced to navigate a derelict, run-down nightmare where danger hides in every pitch-black corridor. The oppressive setting and brilliant world-building grab you instantly by the throat, channelling the raw dread of early 2000s survival horror masters. It is a deeply atmospheric, unsettling descent into isolation that refuses to let go.

QUICK NAV: [Specs] [Gameplay] [Performance] [Settings]

Hollowbody PlayStation 5 Review

• Developer: Headware Games
• Publisher: Headware Games
• Official Store Link: PlayStation UK Store Page
• Download Size: 4.17GB download size.
• Trophy List: Platinum trophy with 27 trophies total.

Hollowbody PlayStation 5 Review

The game is clearly inspired by games like Resident Evil and the original Silent Hill, bringing that glorious old-school survival horror tension kicking and screaming into the modern era. The story is very good, I mean it gripped me instantly with its pacing, atmosphere, and cliffhanger, making me desperately want to find out what happens next. I like how good the voice work is, but also just how they have made it all sound authentic. Part of the great atmosphere is the world they have crafted, but also the lighting and the way you interact with it, creating a thick layer of dread that follows you everywhere. You have a brief direction of where to go, but it comes down to the player more than anything to figure out how and where to go, which is fantastic for that proper, old-school exploration feel.

The gameplay mechanics are wonderfully retro, featuring a fantastic ui for your pack that shows a video feed, health status, documents, inventory and the way you scroll through the ui is just great, with huge 3D models on a carousel. The map is fully 3D and shows points of interest and objectives, allowing you to zoom in and out and rotate it easily. You also have a handy, quick menu choice on the D-pad for fast adjustments. You will combine items in your inventory to create new items or do things like combine guns and ammo to reload them. Puzzle elements are scattered throughout, and it’s more a case of figuring out what item or weapon to use and that, but it can be a bit more in-depth, like gathering information and then doing the maths. When the horror jump scares arrive, they always end in a shoot or melee ranged combat; if you have ever seen Resident Evil or Silent Hill, then you know the type of combat. If you haven’t, it’s frantic and very mashy. The Cotac radio is your only source of communication with the outside world, and it’s intermittent when you can use it, adding to that complete sense of isolation.

Hollowbody PlayStation 5 Review: Performance & Fidelity

• Graphics: Awesome graphics that expertly capture a tech-noir, grimy atmosphere.
• World Aesthetic: Set within a futuristic Sci-fi world in terms of technology, but the areas and locations you explore are very run-down.
• Camera Bugs: The game does go a bit awry when playing in third person and using the camera in any way. I can see through walls, and when entering a new room, the angle goes weird and is annoying.
• Visual Glitches: I ran into some annoying little things, like the camera acting up, and the lighting going crazy or not working entirely at times.
• Immersion Breaks: While the world looks brilliant, the invisible walls are immersion-breaking at times when trying to explore.

Settings, Customisation & Control Details

• Camera Styles: Two camera styles – recommended (fixed and dynamic camera), and alternate (modern third-person camera with full control).
• Perspective Options: The game supports first and third-person views.
• Combat Difficulties: Two combat difficulties – casual and intended.
• Interaction Prompts: Button prompts show in-game, and you can find viewpoints where you get a zoomed-in view of a location.
• Scanning Mechanics: Automatically scan bodies and points of interest and get the information on screen.
• Dialogue Settings: In-game cutscenes and character interactions with great voice work that you can skip or click through.
• Menu Options: Game settings include hold subtitles, walk and run toggle, tank controls, invert third-person axis, third-person cam, third-person camera sensitivity slider, brightness slider, and audio sliders for SFX, dialogue, and music.
• Unique Quirk: I noticed the language is a bit unique in its spellings, and they say things like repair instead of heal.

Related Gert Lush Gaming Reviews

• Tides Of Tomorrow Review: A Single-Player Masterstroke Built On The Ghosts Of Other Gamers
• Tad The Lost Explorer Review (PlayStation 4)
• Evil Below Review (PlayStation 4)