Helltown - Revival Update [Review]
Wildarts returns to Helltown with an updated remaster for maximum horror.
Helltown. Credit: Wildarts Studio
I previously reviewed Wildarts Studio’s Born of Bread. That was a totally different animal than Helltown, their first game originally released in 2017, now remastered with the Revival Update. If you’re like me and didn’t play Helltown before the update, now is a great time to check out this genuinely scary PS1 styled horror adventure game.
It’s 1959, and you’re a postman that’s been assigned to work in the new town of Little Vale, where homes don’t even have numbers yet. Everyone is friendly, but a bit strange. Soon, you’ll learn their dark secret.
Helltown. Credit: Wildarts Studio
Helltown takes place over multiple days in both idyllic and horrific locations. Some of the environments are clearly inspired by Silent Hill, with its chain link floors and rusted metal, while at times there’s a Twin Peaks vibe. I was genuinely scared at some points in the game after a couple of effective jumpscares, which speaks highly of Wildarts’ use of the low poly retro aesthetic in their game along with their excellent lo-fi sound design.
You can interact, run, grab, and throw. You’ll find a flashlight, but no weapons to help you survive; when you encounter enemies, you must either run or hide. The lack of defensive tools make the scary bits especially unnerving. The game was designed for keyboard and mouse so at times it was clunky to play with Steam’s mapping on my external controller, making some parts of the game that needed quick action a bit frustrating. Native controller support would have been nice.
Helltown. Credit: Wildarts Studio
Some parts of Helltown only involve exploring and talking to characters, but others require you to avoid enemies while solving puzzles were you need to find items and take them to specific locations—keys to doors, orbs to portals, etc. There’s one particular section of the game where you need to match several orbs to portals in a huge open area nearly the size of the town while creatures and a *Resident Evil 2-*style Mr. X monster hunt you; it would have been incredibly hard to finish that area if not for the the game saving my progress after placing each orb.
In the 4 hours I played, I was able to see three of the game’s five endings. There are nearly 20 glyphs hidden in the game; I only found a handful and I’m sure that I would need to find them all for one of the game’s endings. I can imagine that would take me quite a bit more time without a guide.
Helltown. Credit: Wildarts Studio
I haven’t looked into what changed between the original version of Helltown and the new Revival update. However, I don’t think that’s important to enjoy the game. You won’t find depth of character in the Helltown, but if that’s not what you’re looking for in your horror then this is a great atmospheric, spooky experience to play in the dark with your headphones on.
Helltown is available now on Steam and itch.
Overall Score: 6/10
Played on: Steam Deck
