Welcome to Kowloon Review on Xbox
Welcome to Kowloon is a single-player, first-person horror set in Kowloon walled city, based on the real city that was demolished in 1993.
Looking for cheap housing, you find yourself in said city where the inhabitants of this place only at first glance seem to be ordinary people, but if you dig deeper, we will see their real faces.
The game boasts stunning urban scenery, atmospheric locations and high-quality 3D sound.
Accessibility
With regards to accessibility, the developers have provided only a sensitivity option, and camera shake. Audio and visual options are non-existent, so those with motor, auditory & visual issues will struggle with this game.
Gameplay
First person horror games are two tonne a penny, so when hearing about Welcome to Kowloon, it was refreshing when even its own description states itself as a walking sim. That wasn’t though what intrigued me, it was the place it was set in is based on a real-world location lost to time in mainland China.
From the outset, you start of as an unknown protagonist, who is in urgent need of accommodation, and gets are room in the infamous overcrowded city. Once inside, you soon realize your new landlady has trapped you in the building and has ulterior motives. It then becomes about you finding a way to escape.
The gameplay is heavy on moving through locations, solving some puzzles to then get to the next location. Along the way, the game provides is decent amount of jump scares to ensure you are always kept on your toes.
What the game sells in spades, it’s atmosphere. You aren’t thrown directly into turmoil, as it prefers a bit of slow burning with you finding the key and feeding a dog as its main tutorial like experience. Because of this slower approach, the game feels more effective once the true horror nature hits, and you start to realise something that was meant to be safe, turns into something far more sinister and dangerous.
Then it nails it hard and genuinely feels horrible as you make your way through dark hallways and dank alleyways. Cramped locations and dark corridors ooze that hair on the back of your neck feel at each and every corner, that a lot of games struggle to manage. Puzzles were also equally simple, with most just look about and find items that then unlock other items allowing you to progress.
My biggest criticism is that it can be completed in the space of an hour, and ideally, I would have loved to have it be doubled or even tripled. This is because there really isn’t any major alternative paths or hidden challenges, with every achievement being completed in a single playthrough.
Overall, I can say that I did really enjoy my time with this game, and even though its short, this will be perfect for parents or those that want a great experience in their lunchtime or before after putting the kids to bed.
Graphics
Visually the landscapes are superb in their impact to the player with authentic modelling of a crowded city eating itself from urban decay and overpopulation. Every hallway has a superb amount of small details, from clothes, cups, posters and graffiti that clearly has been inspired by real urban environments.
Combine this with flickering lights, crumbling walls, overcrowded walls full of clutter, all creates an environment that feels authentic and genuinely disturbing in how close to how the real city must have felt.
Another superb touch is the VHS-style visual filter that gives it’s a found footage sort of style, that combined with its fantastic free-flowing torch light, oozes truly disturbing visuals.
As mentioned lighting is equally well done with its illumination superb in focussing the attention of the player exactly where the developers want it, but at the same time allowing for them explore at their own pace.
The UI is super clean to almost non-existent to ensure you really soak in the landscape and tension it brings around you. Overall framerate and stability were smooth but I did see a number of pop-ins regarding some of the furniture.
Sound
The game has no voice acting its its focus on being text-based story telling. This works in its favour, as the means you can soak up the atmosphere without the worry of horrible dialogue breaking the emersion.
However, the environmental sound design deserves praise. Because the game rarely relies on traditional music, with it instead using uneasy and strange ambient noise. From the buzzing of old electrical systems, distant chatter or footsteps, creaking of doors and dripping water all provide a continuous state of tension. It’s clear here they went for the Hitchcock method of what you don’t see is more frightening than what you do.
My recommendation here would be a good quality headset to enjoy the ambient sound at its most subtle and really allow you to get into the darkness of the city itself.
Verdict
This leads me onto the rating of the game:-
Now I rate games in order of, avoid, on sale, great purchase and must own. My rating for Welcome to Kowloon is a ‘’Great Purchase’’.
The game is very short but is priced well for the experience you are getting. If you are looking for a quick horror that’s a delight on your senses, this will provide that.
The game is currently priced on Xbox at £8.39 or approx. $10 and depending on your skill and patience would give you about 40 minutes to about an hour to fully complete the game. There is no replay ability, so once you are done, that’s it.
The game would be best with some dlc to expand the core gameplay by a few hours, but as a one-off stand-alone walking horror sim, this does a really good job on the atmosphere and visuals, that I believe is worth your time.