I need to clear something off my chest: I’m a glutton for punishment. However, this isn’t because I’m a fan of challenging games like Elden Ring or Dark Souls, which I do still love, but rather; I find it fun to jump into an absolutely garbage video game every once in a blue moon. After playing through something like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, jumping into a game like The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is a great way to unwind and get some laughs out. However, while cautiously optimistic about The Greyhill Incident, I knew in the back of my mind that this was never going to be a 10/10 game by any stretch of the imagination, but I never imagined it going down like this.
An Absolute Audio Nightmare
Growing up in the 90s, I loved mystery shows like the X-Files and the stories that I could follow along with. While I wasn’t really “old enough” to understand everything that was happening, I was just happy to watch something about Aliens. That’s what immediately triggered my interest in The Greyhill Incident. The thought of a horror game involving Greys sounded like a dream come true, even if I thought it was going to be a little shoddy from the footage I had seen in the past.
While growing up in the 90s, I was also introduced to voice acting in video games. During the early days of gaming, we weren’t treated to the star-studded casts that we know and love today. There were plenty of goofy moments that would plague our favorite games, and cause us to cringe when we come back and visit them today, but The Greyhill Incident may have some of the worst audio work I’ve seen in a modern release.
Yes, as an indie studio, we can’t expect them to bring big names into the studio to record everything, but we’ve seen some standout examples on the scene in the past few years. While the majority of the dialogue looks and sounds like it was brought to life using AI, especially the character Brandon, it’s the abhorrent audio clipping while using the Walkie Talkie that breaks any immersion I could be facing.
While preparing and getting ready to “drive to our holiday home by tomorrow”, I’ve got the main character speaking over Brandon, while his bratty son Henry is talking about a headache in the background, swearing at the start of every sentence. The kid looks like he’s about 12 years old, which makes it slightly funnier, but at the same point, hearing three voices blasting off into my ear at the same time is always unintentionally hilarious and grating.
A Complete Lack Of Direction
The next biggest issue I had with The Greyhill Incident was a complete lack of direction. While some games handle this with style and grace, like Elden Ring, this one struggles more than a bit. Take for example the screenshot above. You find a cat in a pasture, covered with tons of probes and alien technology. You’re instructed to take this animal back to Bob, and you can find him… over there. Here’s the problem: you haven’t been introduced to Bob, and with no map, you don’t know where over there is.
Thankfully, our hero has the lungs of someone that has been smoking or vaping from the second they left the womb, giving you a chance to run for a whopping six seconds before needing to catch your breath. While this isn’t an open-world adventure, areas can still be vast and the standard walking cycle feels like you’re pushing through a 3-foot wall of molasses. So once you finally make your way “over there” and get to Bob, you’ll need to get yourself some Tin Foil to apply to your Walkie Talkie. You’re told you can find it on the kitchen desk, but instead, it’s in a completely different spot.
The lack of direction and interactivity ruins a large portion of the fun. While we don’t need giant arrows pointing us in the direction we need to go, maybe a small marker to point us in the right direction could go a long way. And before the “gamer journalist mode: activated” jokes come out, check the Steam forums, there are plenty of people already asking about the lack of direction in this game.
BTW, You Should Always Use Proper Grammar
My final big gripe from my time with The Greyhill Incident has to be the complete lack of polish when it comes to grammar. As mentioned above, most of the voices sound robotic and the script feels like it was written by chatGPT, and it leads to unintentionally hilarious moments. While trying to discover what was hiding in your son’s room, presumably a Grey, you speak to Brandon, just casually letting him know that “btw someone was in Henry’s Room.” Like, NBD I guess, ayy lmao. If you’re trying to get someone engrossed in your story and ensure that they “have a happy live”, make sure that you have everything checked over at least once or twice.
Combat encounters feel extremely weightless and inefficient, as Ryan waves around a baseball bat with reckless abandon in some of the worst feeling melee combat I’ve experienced in quite some time. While I normally joke about Elder Scrolls games having very stiff and awkward combat encounters, The Greyhill Incident has taken the cake when it comes to a complete lack of connection between what is happening and how it progresses. It’s stiff, awkward, and just feels… not great in the slightest. You eventually do get a gun, so that’s at least something.
A Grey Lining
While I’ve spent a lot of time dunking on this one, there are a few things that put the ball in its court. The general atmosphere feels great, and the visuals are incredibly well done. As I spent my short time before requesting a refund on this one, I took a fair bit of time exploring the world around me and soaking in some of the smaller details. I come from rural Wisconsin, and this reminds me of a lot of home in a way, especially the crackpot conspiracy theorists.
And while the Greys may not be the most menacing Aliens you’ve ever seen, they still evoke a bit of terror the first time you encounter them. Until you realize that you can just cave in their craniums with some clunky combat. Watching their UFO descend upon you for the first time is mesmerizing, and easily the best point of time that I had while exploring the town of Greyhill.
The bones of a solid horror title are here, and it’s a shame that the meat surrounding them is rancid and full of flies. With a few updates, The Greyhill Incident could become a cult classic, but for now, it deserves a quick spot in the bargain bin, even though it only runs you around $25. I can’t recommend this one to anyone in its current state, but it has room to grow if the developers are willing to spend the time fixing it.
