House Of Ashes
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''The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes'' is a 2021 interactive drama and
survival horror Survival horror is a subgenre of survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical ac ...
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
with
sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...
and
action horror Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
elements developed by
Supermassive Games Supermassive Games Ltd is a British video game developer based in Guildford, Surrey. The studio is best known for developing horror games such as ''Until Dawn'' for the PlayStation 4, ''The Dark Pictures Anthology'' for Bandai Namco Entertainmen ...
and published by
Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational video game video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in ...
. It is the third installment in ''
The Dark Pictures Anthology ''The Dark Pictures Anthology'' is an anthology series of interactive drama and survival horror video games developed by Supermassive Games and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The anthology will consist of eight games, with each gam ...
'', after '' Man of Medan'' (2019) and '' Little Hope'' (2020). Like earlier games in the series, ''House of Ashes'' features a cast of five playable protagonists and a multilinear narrative influenced by player choice. The game's decision-making scenes, of which there are several, can significantly alter the trajectory of the plot and change the relationships between the main characters. Due to these choices, any of the five protagonists can die permanently.
Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...
stars as the game's
leading actress A leading actor, leading actress, or simply lead (), plays the role of the protagonist of a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person who typica ...
, portraying a
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
(CIA)
field officer A senior officer is an officer of a more senior grade in military or other uniformed services. In military organisations, the term may refer to any officer above junior officer rank, but usually specifically refers to the middle-ranking group of ...
named Rachel King. Set during the
2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...
, the story focuses on five characters—four Americans working for the
US Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
and one Iraqi working for the Iraq
Republican Guard A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wit ...
—who fall into a subterranean
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...
temple after the two parties clash during an ambush countering a US
military raid Raiding, also known as depredation, is a military tactic or operational warfare mission which has a specific purpose. Raiders do not capture and hold a location, but quickly retreat to a previous defended position before enemy forces can respond i ...
. The protagonists must find a way out of the ancient structure and cooperate, together with their adversaries, to outmatch the
vampiric A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
entities that infest the area. The proverb "
the enemy of my enemy is my friend "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" is an ancient proverb which suggests that two parties can or should work together against a common enemy. The exact meaning of the modern phrase was first expressed in the Latin phrase "Amicus meus, inimicus ...
" serves as the game's central theme. Many gameplay mechanics from the series' earlier games, such as
quick time event In video games, a quick time event (QTE) is a method of context-sensitive gameplay in which the player performs actions on the control device shortly after the appearance of an on-screen instruction/prompt. It allows for limited control of the ...
s (QTEs) and collectable "pictures" that allow players to see visions of possible future events, return in ''House of Ashes''. The title introduces features, such as a more interactive camera system and three
difficulty level Game balance is a branch of game design that is described as a mathematical-algorithmic model of a game’s numbers, game mechanics, and relations between the two. Game balance consists of adjusting values to create a certain user experience. Play ...
s to manage QTEs. With a
soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
created by the series' composer and Supermassive Games's long-time collaborator
Jason Graves Jason Graves is an American television, film, and video game music composer. His works include the musical scores for ''Dead Space'', ''Alpha Protocol'', ''Tomb Raider'', '' The Order: 1886'', ''Until Dawn'', '' Evolve'', ''Dungeon Siege'', and ' ...
, the game contains major influences from various media texts. The developers looked at several works, including the book ''
At the Mountains of Madness ''At the Mountains of Madness'' is a science fiction-horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in February/March 1931 and rejected that year by ''Weird Tales'' editor Farnsworth Wright on the grounds of its length. It was ori ...
'' and the films ''
Predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
'' and ''
The Descent ''The Descent'' is a 2005 British horror film written and directed by Neil Marshall. The film follows six women who enter a cave system and struggle to survive against the humanoid creatures inside. Filming took place in the United Kingdom. Ex ...
'', to draw inspiration for their story. ''House of Ashes'' was released for
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
,
PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...
,
Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
, and
Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...
on 22 October 2021. ''House of Ashes'' garnered mixed reviews from critics, being compared with Supermassive Games' previous work, including the 2015 video game ''
Until Dawn ''Until Dawn'' is a 2015 interactive drama horror game, horror video game developed by Supermassive Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Players assume control of eight young adults who have to survive on B ...
'', and was dubbed a "step in the right direction" for ''The Dark Pictures Anthology''. The multiplayer modes, and choice-and-consequence system were praised and critics said the story and characters improved in quality compared to earlier games in the series. Technical problems with the gameplay and the visual design of the monsters, such as bugs and glitches with textures and animation, frequently drew criticism. Its sequel, '' The Devil in Me'', serves as the final title in the series' first season.


Gameplay

''House of Ashes'' is an interactive drama and
survival horror Survival horror is a subgenre of survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical ac ...
game that is presented from a
third-person perspective Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the a ...
and is set during the
Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
(2003-2011). Players take control of five protagonists who are enlisted in the armed forces of their respective countries; the characters fall and become trapped in an underground
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
n temple. Bat-like monsters awaken to hunt the characters. A core element of the gameplay involves the management of relationships between the characters, and their allies and enemies. Players can choose to be courageous and ensure the creatures do not kill anybody, or to continue alone and be concerned with their own personal safety. Facing a common foe, the Iraqi and American characters must decide whether they should ignore their differences and become allies to survive the attacks. Characters often quote the proverb "
the enemy of my enemy is my friend "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" is an ancient proverb which suggests that two parties can or should work together against a common enemy. The exact meaning of the modern phrase was first expressed in the Latin phrase "Amicus meus, inimicus ...
", which is one of the story's recurring themes. ''House of Ashes'' introduces two gameplay features that are a departure from those of '' Man of Medan'' and '' Little Hope'', previous entries in ''
The Dark Pictures Anthology ''The Dark Pictures Anthology'' is an anthology series of interactive drama and survival horror video games developed by Supermassive Games and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The anthology will consist of eight games, with each gam ...
''. The
camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...
is no longer fully fixed and has been replaced with a
controllable Controllability is an important property of a control system, and the controllability property plays a crucial role in many control problems, such as stabilization of unstable systems by feedback, or optimal control. Controllability and observabi ...
, 360-degree one. ''House of Ashes'' is the first game in the series to feature difficulty levels, such as "forgiving", "challenging" and "lethal", which affect the game's
quick time event In video games, a quick time event (QTE) is a method of context-sensitive gameplay in which the player performs actions on the control device shortly after the appearance of an on-screen instruction/prompt. It allows for limited control of the ...
s (QTEs). To further adjust difficulty, players can choose which buttons to press for specific types of QTEs, and can customise the speed at which these prompts appear. The remainder of the features are consistent with those of the other two instalments. The game's developers at
Supermassive Games Supermassive Games Ltd is a British video game developer based in Guildford, Surrey. The studio is best known for developing horror games such as ''Until Dawn'' for the PlayStation 4, ''The Dark Pictures Anthology'' for Bandai Namco Entertainmen ...
said players will immediately understand ''House of Ashes'' mechanics if they have played either ''Man of Medan'' or ''Little Hope''. Players must make several choices that can have long-term consequences on the narrative's progression and the characters perceptions of each other. In these scenarios, there is a limited amount of time in which one can choose an action or a line of dialogue with which to respond. Protagonists may choose to say or do nothing when they are prompted to make a decision. An anatomical drawing of the brain and heart accompanies every choice in ''House of Ashes'', indicating the
player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...
may choose actions based on either rationality or emotion. To track the narrative branches in one's playthrough, the game's menu has a " butterfly effect" system called "bearings", which lists all consequential courses of action associated with each branch and their eventual outcomes. The story is interspersed with
cutscene A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...
s featuring a character called the Curator (
Pip Torrens Philip D'Oyly "Pip" Torrens (born 2 June 1960) is an English actor. Known for playing urbane, authoritative figures, Torrens portrayed courtier Tommy Lascelles in the Netflix drama ''The Crown'', aristocrat Lord Massen in the HBO series ''The ...
/Tony Pankhurst), who converses with players about the choices they have made and provides clues about what will happen next in the plot. The survival of all five protagonists depends on these critical decisions, and the game continues without the deceased characters. As a result, ''House of Ashes'' has
multiple endings A narrative typically ends in one set way, but certain kinds of narrative allow for multiple endings. Comics * ''The Death-Ray'' by Daniel Clowes. * ''Cliff Hanger''. Literature * The ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' series. * ''Fighting Fantasy ...
and includes over 60 death scenes. Several scenes in the game, including ones that are combat-heavy, make use of QTEs that can lead to penalties like a protagonist's death in case of failure to provide a precisely timed input. Many types of QTE involve pressing specific buttons—either once or repeatedly—to trigger actions from the player character, such as dodging an obstacle or keeping calm when hiding from a threat. Another type is the moving of a
crosshair A reticle, or reticule also known as a graticule, is a pattern of fine lines or markings built into the eyepiece of an optical device such as a telescopic sight, spotting scope, theodolite, optical microscope or the screen of an oscilloscope, ...
onto an on-screen target to shoot it. The game displays a notice whenever players are about to perform a QTE, illustrating the type of action the QTE is intended to perform. ''House of Ashes'' includes elements of exploration and allows players to pick up collectables while searching and moving through locations. A new light source mechanic aids players in underground navigation and inspection by illuminating dark paths that lay ahead. The eponymous "pictures" mechanic of earlier titles in the series is used. Pictures, which are either "black", "white" or "gold", trigger a vision of possible future story branches to help players make decisions. Pictures work in a similar fashion to the totems in ''
Until Dawn ''Until Dawn'' is a 2015 interactive drama horror game, horror video game developed by Supermassive Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Players assume control of eight young adults who have to survive on B ...
'', a 2015 game that was also developed by Supermassive Games. As in earlier games in the series, 50 "secrets"—items that are scattered throughout ''House of Ashes'', provide background information and context to events that happened in the temple and preceded the main plot. Secrets partly consist of journal entries written during the 1940s that, when picked up, activate a cutscene in which the author's voice recounts a contemporaneous archaeology mission that occurred in the temple. As in ''Man of Medan'' and ''Little Hope'', players can enter ''House of Ashes'' in four modes; the "Theatrical" and "Curator's Cuts" modes are
single-player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. A single-player game is usually a game that can only be played by one person, while "single-player mode" is usuall ...
, and "Movie Night" and "Shared Story" are
multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
. Customers who
pre-order A pre-order is an order placed for an item that has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came because people found it hard to get popular items in stores because of their popularity. Companies then had the idea to allow customers to r ...
ed ''House of Ashes'' gained access to the "Curator's Cut", a version of the story that shows mostly the same scenes that are viewed from the perspective and control of another protagonist, as well as the default "Theatrical Cut" mode. "Shared Story" and "Movie Night" offer the option to control the characters with another person; "Shared Story" actis as a two-player version of the game and "Movie Night" accommodates up to three more players. The multiplayer concept was inspired by
live streamers An online streamer or live streamer is a person who broadcasts themselves online through a live stream to an audience. History Streaming arose in the early 2010s, originating on sites like YouTube where users could upload videos of themselves i ...
' collaborative manner of playing ''Until Dawn'', which prompted the developers at Supermassive Games to incorporate such a feature in their next releases.


Playable characters

''House of Ashes'' has an
ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...
that includes
Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...
as
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
(CIA) operative Rachel King. Her husband is
Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
Eric King (Alex Gravenstein/Dawid Kocieda). The pair have been apart from one another for one year. Their distant relationship at the beginning of the story serves as a plot point, of which players control the progression. As Eric finishes work on a military tracking system, Rachel begins an affair with another main character, traumatised
Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
Nick Kay (Moe Jeudy-Lamour/Tom Weston). Players's decisions control the development of her relationship with Nick. The other two protagonists are US Marine
First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...
Jason Kolchek (Paul Zinno/Jack Green) and
Iraqi Republican Guard Iraqi or Iraqis (in plural) means from Iraq, a country in the Middle East, and may refer to: * Iraqi people or Iraqis, people from Iraq or of Iraqi descent * A citizen of Iraq, see demographics of Iraq * Iraqi or Araghi ( fa, عراقی), someone o ...
soldier
Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
Salim Othman (
Nick E. Tarabay Nick Emad Tarabay (born 28 August 1975) is a Lebanese-born American actor. He is known for portraying Ashur on the Starz television series ''Spartacus'' and Cotyar on the Amazon Prime Video science fiction television series ''The Expanse''. ...
/Luis Augusto). Salim is a father who wishes to reunite with his son after escaping the temple. Jason is trying to find his purpose in life, having enlisted in the military after the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
in an attempt to do so. Like Nick, Jason regrets his actions in the Iraq War, during which the pair shot an innocent civilian at a checkpoint. Once vampires begin attacking the characters, Jason and Salim may turn their initial mutual animosity into friendship as part of the story's core theme; "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".


Synopsis


Setting and prologue

''House of Ashes'' plot is set predominantly during the
Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
and in the former territory of the ancient
Akkadian Empire The Akkadian Empire () was the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia after the long-lived civilization of Sumer. It was centered in the city of Akkad (city), Akkad () and its surrounding region. The empire united Akkadian language, Akkadian and ...
that existed in
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
around 4,000 years ago. A small portion of the game takes place in the fictional
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
town Little Hope as a nod to the previous eponymous instalment. In the game's timeline, the Akkadian Empire is the site of the crash-landing of a spaceship that carried thousands of large, bat-like aliens from the Cetus constellation that flew near Earth's atmosphere. A
parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has c ...
infection that
gestate Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregna ...
s within the host's body took over the craft's crew, resulting in ship-wide disruption that led to the crash. The disease caused the aliens to mutate into vampires that are vulnerable to
ultraviolet light Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30  PHz) to 400 nm (750  THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation i ...
and controlled through the nervous system by the parasites. The aliens have been hibernating underground for millennia, occasionally venturing to the surface to feed on the
adrenaline Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands and ...
of animals, including humans. A temple, which was built at the behest of the Akkadian god-king Naram-Sin to appease the Mesopotamian gods, stands above the crash site. The prologue takes place in 2231 BC in the temple, which is located in
Akkad Akkad may refer to: *Akkad (city), the capital of the Akkadian Empire *Akkadian Empire, the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia *Akkad SC, Iraqi football club People with the name *Abbas el-Akkad, Egyptian writer *Abdulrahman Akkad, Syrian LGBT act ...
. The Akkadians are dealing with a curse of famine and plague after Naram-Sin has angered the wind god
Enlil Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Bab ...
. As a Gutian army prepares to invade the city, Naram-Sin orders the mass sacrifice of Gutian prisoners in the city's temple to "nourish the sands" and help the Akkadians win the battle. During the assault, a
solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six month ...
allows the vampiric creatures from the spaceship beneath the temple to begin slaughtering both armies. Two survivors, Akkadian general Balathu (Zaydun Khalaf/Winston Thomas) and Gutian soldier Kurum (Waleed Hammad/Michael Addo), ignore their differences and work together as they flee into the temple catacombs to escape the creatures. Balathu and Kurum are quickly overwhelmed and presumably killed. Following the prologue, the game cuts to a scene of a library owned by the Curator, an omnipresent observer of the player's decisions. The Curator introduces himself to the player and provides information about parts of ''House of Ashes'' gameplay, including the decision-making system and the pictures system.


Main plot

During the
invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...
in May 2003,
USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
Lt. Col. Eric King arrives at
Camp Slayer Victory Base Complex (VBC) was a cluster of U.S. military installations surrounding the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). The primary component of the VBC was Camp Victory, the location of the Al-Faw Palace, which served as the headquarters f ...
in Baghdad to debrief a team of
Force Recon Force Reconnaissance (FORECON) is one of the United States Marine Corps' special operations capable forces (SOC) which supplies military intelligence to the command element of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF). Force Reconnaissance compa ...
Marines, who are led by
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
officer and Eric's distant wife Rachel King, about a mission to raid a village in the Arabian Desert. Eric believes he has found a facility underneath the village that stores Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons. The team includes Rachel's lover Sgt. Nick Kay and Nick's squad leader 1st Lt. Jason Kolchek. Other minor characters on the team are Cpl. Nathan Merwin ( Alex Mallari Jr./Jozef Aoki), LCpl. José "Joey" Gomez (Sammy Azero/Jonathan Burteaux), and Eric's assistant Dr. Clarice Stokes (Clare McConnell/Eleni Miariti). Meanwhile,
Iraqi Republican Guard Iraqi or Iraqis (in plural) means from Iraq, a country in the Middle East, and may refer to: * Iraqi people or Iraqis, people from Iraq or of Iraqi descent * A citizen of Iraq, see demographics of Iraq * Iraqi or Araghi ( fa, عراقی), someone o ...
soldier Lt. Salim Othman returns home and searches for his son Zain, carrying a birthday gift for him, but his commanding officer Cpt. Dar Basri (Nabeel El Khafif/Sukesh Khosla) forces Salim to intercept the raid led by Eric. Salim's squad ambushes the US troops when they arrive but several sinkholes plunge everybody into the ancient Akkadian temple, which is now buried beneath the sand. The five protagonists are separated during the fall; inside the temple, both Iraqi and American forces are frequently attacked by the vampiric creatures, which include reanimated humans who succumbed to the parasite—the "Ancient One" is either Balathu or Kurum depending on player choices in the prologue. A similar fate befalls Joey, who was mortally wounded in the ambush. Clarice and Rachel can also catch the infection. Throughout the game, the protagonists learn about the temple's history and about the remains of a failed British 1940s archaeological expedition. Led by Randolph Hodgson and
antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
Lady Bradshaw in a supposed search for
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
's tomb, the entire expedition team was wiped out after encountering and studying the monsters. Hodgson subsequently tried but failed to destroy the temple with dynamite. As the surviving marines regroup, Salim explores the temple alone. He encounters a vampire and retrieves a metal bar from a fallen truck to use as a weapon against them. Rachel is separated from Eric after a stand-off with Dar, and falls into a blood-soaked pit. While the US forces search for ways to signal for help, Rachel comes across an ill Clarice, who was earlier abducted by the vampires. Rachel and Clarice climb out of the pit but due to Clarice's worsening health, Rachel must choose whether to abandon Clarice or continue accompanying her to medicate the illness. Rachel reunites with her allies in the temple and the group are violently assaulted by the vampires. As they escape from the vampires towards the catacombs below them, the Americans again encounter Dar, who is now joined by Salim. Salim suggests they unite to fight the monsters chasing them, to which the others reluctantly agree. The vampires continue attacking the protagonists in the catacombs, killing Dar and separating everyone once more. After the assault, Salim comes across Jason and decides to team up with him. At this point, Salim and Jason can choose whether to be cooperative-but-distrusting to one another or become close friends. Salim and Jason explore the temple, fighting creatures, and go deeper into the remains of the alien spaceship, where they find the partially preserved remains of either Balathu or Kurum. Nick, and possibly Rachel and Eric, follow afterward. Once the survivors flee from another close encounter with the creatures, they further explore the spaceship and learn about the vampires' origin. The survivors talk about a gigantic nest of hibernating vampires they earlier found in the spaceship and agree to incinerate it with explosives. As the cocoons burn, the characters escape to the surface to await extraction by a rescue team. They escape the temple but a total solar eclipse allows the vampires to again attack the group until the eclipse ends and the dispatched team arrives. The player's choices and performances in QTEs determine how many of the protagonists survive. During a post-credits epilogue, at Camp Slayer, the located protagonists are transported—and interviewed if found alive—inside the base. The US military, planning to cover up the entire incident, begins analysis of the vampires.


Development and release


Gameplay and story

''House of Ashes'' is the third game in a series of eight planned for ''The Dark Pictures Anthology''. The films ''
Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...
'', ''
Predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
'', and ''
The Descent ''The Descent'' is a 2005 British horror film written and directed by Neil Marshall. The film follows six women who enter a cave system and struggle to survive against the humanoid creatures inside. Filming took place in the United Kingdom. Ex ...
''; the book ''
At the Mountains of Madness ''At the Mountains of Madness'' is a science fiction-horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in February/March 1931 and rejected that year by ''Weird Tales'' editor Farnsworth Wright on the grounds of its length. It was ori ...
''; and the myth of the
Curse of Akkad A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, ...
serving as inspiration for the team. The game's plot also shares similarities to the 2005 horror movie: ''The Cave''. ''House of Ashes'' is the first title in the series to be available on
PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...
and
Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...
, making use of the next-generation graphics and resolution the new platforms provide. Game director Will Doyle described ''House of Ashes'' as a
creature feature A monster movie, monster film, creature feature or giant monster film is a film that focuses on one or more characters struggling to survive attacks by one or more antagonistic monsters, often abnormally large ones. The film may also fall under ...
and an exploration horror game about an ensemble cast of "trained experts" who are "beyond safety" and unable to get backup for a "critical" mission in a secluded location, where they encounter threats Doyle described as "horrible" and "inhumane". Like the other instalments, ''House of Ashes'' was designed to be a standalone story but Supermassive Games included
Easter eggs Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tra ...
and callbacks to previous and future instalments to create a kind of
shared universe A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...
within the anthology. Character models from ''House of Ashes'' predecessors were used in this game. Sara Rechena from the Portuguese edition of ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' said the design choice is reminiscent of ''
American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' is an American anthology horror television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. The first installment in the '' American Story'' media franchise, each season is conceived as a ...
''. Supermassive Games spent an extensive amount of time designing the monsters, the most complicated of their kind the team had made as of the game's release. To make the creatures lifelike, developers used both motion capture and hand animation. Executive producer Dan McDonald, in an interview with ''PCGamesN'', said Supermassive focused on determining the monsters' physiology to achieve an "otherworldly" effect, which they did using "a bunch of props, stilts, and other things". Doyle also said the monsters' designs were created to be faceless so they would appear incomprehensible and unempathetic, and inhumane enough to "bring out the humanity" in the protagonists. The developers implemented two new gameplay features for ''House of Ashes'' as a result of fan feedback on prior instalments in the anthology. The team created a Game balance#Difficulty level, difficulty level system for the game and overhauled the camera to make it freely movable. Because many scenes in ''House of Ashes'' involve "spookier" and more spacious areas, Supermassive found it appropriate to give players total control over the camera, which would aid in exploration and allow players to appreciate the cavernous locations. Doyle said after the release of ''Man of Medan'' and ''Little Hope'', he noticed fans were divided about the difficulty of the QTE mechanics; many found the prompts "too easy" but others found them "too hard". In ''House of Ashes'', players are able to toggle the speed at which QTEs appear and remain on screen. After ''Little Hope'' limited number of endings due to its use of hallucinations as a plot twist provoked a backlash, the developers incorporated a wider variety of narrative branches into ''House of Ashes'' story.


Usage of the Iraq War as setting

McDonald said while the game is set during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, they did not intend war and politics to be its primary focus. The developers tried to treat the setting with respect. According to Tom Phillips, Doyle thought movies depicting conflicts like the Iraq War tend to dehumanise people from opposing nations. With that observation in mind, he and his team wanted to include an Iraqi protagonist in the main cast so they could represent people from both sides of the war in a nuanced light. To add further complexity, Supermassive also tied several aspects of the characters' backstories, such as Salim's desire to leave the war and go back to his son, to the invasion. During the game's production, the team consulted military specialists and Arabic speakers to ensure their depiction of 2003 Iraq was "grounded in reality" and the plot's script was of good quality. Supermassive attributed the decision to set the game in Iraq to the country's abundance in myths and folklore the team could incorporate into the story. The developers believed the 2003–2011 Iraq War would make an "interesting" departure point for the development of the five protagonists, allowing them the opportunity for character motivations, relationships and dynamics the developers found compelling, sympathetic and complex.


Casting the lead

Supermassive Games approached actor
Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...
, who is known for her appearances in the ''High School Musical (franchise), High School Musical'' series, during the game's development and asked if she could portray protagonist Rachel King. The developers wanted to cast someone who could exhibit a "tough" personality but was simultaneously capable of showing a "soft side". Tisdale agreed to provide Rachel's voice and likeness because she felt the project would expand her career experiences outside of her usual roles in comedy. She became the installment's female lead actor, making her debut in the video games industry. During the filming process, Supermassive recorded the Tisdale's physical movements and those of the game's other actors to create animations for the character models. To comply with Social distancing measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic, actors had to avoid bodily contact with one another while enacting their scenes; their movements were digitally edited in post-production to give the impression of contact. In an interview with the developers, Tisdale recounted her experiences while acting for ''House of Ashes'' and expressed her excitement in her role as a CIA operative in the game: According to Kimberley Wallace from ''Game Informer'', every game in ''The Dark Pictures Anthology'' series includes one high-profile actor as the game's lead. Apart from ''House of Ashes'' Tisdale, she said ''Man of Medan'' Shawn Ashmore and ''Little Hope'' Will Poulter had also starred in the series.


Music and sound design

The soundtrack for ''House of Ashes'' was composed by Supermassive Games's long-time collaborator
Jason Graves Jason Graves is an American television, film, and video game music composer. His works include the musical scores for ''Dead Space'', ''Alpha Protocol'', ''Tomb Raider'', '' The Order: 1886'', ''Until Dawn'', '' Evolve'', ''Dungeon Siege'', and ' ...
, who had previously worked with them on music for other games in ''The Dark Pictures Anthology''. Before the series' inception, he composed music for ''
Until Dawn ''Until Dawn'' is a 2015 interactive drama horror game, horror video game developed by Supermassive Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Players assume control of eight young adults who have to survive on B ...
'', another survival-horror game the company developed. During the early stages of ''House of Ashes'' development, Graves composed the game's the score during the COVID-19 lockdowns in the United Kingdom, UK's COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. The score makes use of string and percussion instruments, including hand drums and distorted guitars, as well as flutes and synthesisers. The game's sound director Barney Pratt used a combination of film- and game-music editing techniques to create a cinematic, immersive atmosphere for ''House of Ashes''. Pratt's team wanted the score's style to be shaped by the plot and gameplay. A percussive, Sumerian-style composition was used for the prologue; it progresses to a horror-themed orchestration of other instruments, adding the synthesisers after the game's twist to evoke the image of highly advanced technology. In these scores, Pratt made use of the game's "signature sound" that could convey a wide variety of emotions, ranging from "unnerving" to "dramatic". He also planned the signature sound to be subtle and encompass a vast range of "time zones, cultures, and locations", in line with the story's "consistent element[s]". Graves started working on this sound using a Sampling (music), sample of a dove's coo, which he used as the basis for the other arrangements. In an interview with music magazine ''Spin (magazine), Spin'', Graves said working with Supermassive Games is "a treat" and that he enjoyed coming up with unique compositions for each game in the anthology.


Prelude and release

''House of Ashes'' was first revealed in a hidden post-credits teaser trailer at the end of ''The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope'', which was released on 30 October 2020. Supermassive Games and
Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational video game video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in ...
published another teaser trailer on 19 May 2021 then officially revealed the gameplay next week, on 27 May. Two story trailers provided glimpses on the game's plot; one trailer premiered at E3 2021#Summer Game Fest, E3 2021's Summer Game Fest on 10 June and another at Gamescom 2021 on 25 August. The Gamescom trailer contains an advertisement for the game's "Pazuzu Edition" and a link to a fictional US military website that gave further details about ''House of Ashes'' Game lore, lore. The ''Pazuzu Edition'', which is the name for the game's collector's edition, included the Curator's Cut, a collector's box, an art print, a set of stickers, a figurine of one of the vampiric creatures and an eclipse-shaped button. In early September 2021, Supermassive and Bandai Namco made a playable Game demo, demo of the game available to the public. On 7 October, the companies released a character trailer introducing the main cast. ''House of Ashes'' was released for Windows,
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
,
PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...
,
Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
, and
Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...
on 22 October 2021. Its release was accompanied by a trailer that includes live action, live-action scenes of the Curator.


Reception

Compared with the previous title ''Little Hope'', ''House of Ashes'' sold 27% fewer physical copies in the United Kingdom upon its debut. The game entered the UK boxed charts at number six, with 48% of boxed sales coming from PS5 users. The PS4 and Xbox versions made up 36% and 16% of physical sales at the time, respectively. ''House of Ashes'' dropped to number 21 on the week of 30 October, denoting a 52% decrease in sales. Factoring is both download and physical purchases, ''House of Ashes'' reached the GSD Top 20 Games monthly chart for October, where it was placed at number 11.


Critical response

According to Metacritic, a review aggregator, ''The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes'' received "mixed or average" reviews from critics. Upon its release, it was widely regarded as the anthology's best game to date and as an improvement over the two previous games, with a few reviews calling it a "step in the right direction" for ''The Dark Pictures''. The characters of ''House of Ashes'' were the subject of commentary in several reviews. Many critics praised Salim, one of the game's five protagonists, attributing his likability to his empathetic persona and friendly interactions with the other characters. Rachel Weber, a writer for ''GamesRadar+'', appreciated the way he comes across as a "good impression" of a human being, a trait that made her invested in his survival. Richard Wakeling from ''GameSpot'' expressed admiration for Salim for the same reason, and he commended Supermassive Games for doing an "excellent job" at making the character sympathetic and humane. Reviewing ''House of Ashes'' for the website ''VG247'', Tom Orry said Salim had the saddest backstory among the game's characters and believed he was a standout among the game's cast. Similarly, ''Polygon (website), Polygon'' Cass Marshall described Salim as a noteworthy character with a "heartwarming" motivation to return home to his son. Marshall enjoyed many of Salim's actions and feats, such as accumulating an "enormous vampire kill count" and being willing to help the American characters despite their hostility, during ''House of Ashes'' story. As a result, Marshall called him "an absolute legend" and the game's "most valuable player". ''GameSpot'' Wakeling said Salim's relationships with the game's other characters are ''House of Ashes'' "best and most poignant moments". He admired the developers for choosing not to portray Salim in a villainous way because of the US-led war in Iraq. In a review for the news website ''Destructoid'', writer Jordan Devore praised Salim for his pragmatism, which is demonstrated by his prioritisation of escape from the underground temple and his insistence he and his adversaries must stop fighting if they all wish to get out alive. As a result, Devore considered Salim the most likeable and relatable of the protagonists. Two reviews on the game mention Salim's relationship with Jason. ''Polygon'' Marshall was critical of the game's tendency to focus on the Americans' mistreatment of Salim but felt satisfied by the potential "buddy cop" dynamic that could develop between Salim and Jason, calling the relationship "bittersweet". According to ''Game Informer'' Marcus Stewart, Jason's interactions with Salim appear "cheesy". He lauded the portrayal of Jason's character, and called his war trauma and character development "endearing" moments that drew Stewart close to the protagonist.


Accolades


Sequel

The series' next title has been announced as ''The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me'', which will be the final game in ''The Dark Pictures'' first season. The first trailer for ''The Devil in Me'', which was shown at the end of ''House of Ashes''; depicts an automated human-like mechanism created from a rotting corpse. The trailer is about a minute long and features a voiceover monologue about the "art" of serial killing. A gold picture found in a chapter of ''House of Ashes'' previews a scene from ''The Devil in Me'', showing a man being incinerated by an explosion caused by a mannequin. After Bandai Namco and Supermassive announced the trailer for the upcoming game, they gave an overview of the plot. ''The Devil in Me'' is planned for release in 2022, and will follow a five-person crew of documentary filmmakers (including Irish actress Jessie Buckley) who tour a replica of H. H. Holmes#Illinois and the Murder Castle, H. H. Holmes Murder Castle and are subsequently stalked by a malevolent force.


Notes


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dark Pictures Anthology House of Ashes 2021 video games Ancient Mesopotamia in popular culture Bandai Namco games Fiction about parasites 2020s horror video games Iraq War video games Interactive movie video games Multiplayer and single-player video games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 4 Pro enhanced games PlayStation 5 games Supermassive Games Unreal Engine games Video game sequels Video games about vampires Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games featuring female protagonists Video games set in 2003 Video games set in antiquity Video games set in Iraq Video games with alternate endings Windows games Xbox One games Xbox One X enhanced games Xbox Series X and Series S games