Although I try to keep abreast of what’s coming down the pipeline, there are always surprises — both pleasant and unpleasant. One release that recently surprised me was Welcome to Kowloon — a horror experience that isn’t for the faint of heart. Going in, I didn’t know what to expect, and am still thinking about it hours later.
Like The Green Light, which I actually played through after this, Welcome to Kowloon is a first-person horror game with walking simulator mechanics. As such, players can expect light puzzles and unexpected scares. That, as well as lots of walking and running, even though the game takes place in an apartment building.
Welcome to Kowloon is devoid of voice acting, and is an indie game. Its basic premise is introduced by text, before our main character drives onto screen. The game tells us that the walled city of Kowloon (found in China) is a decrepit, decaying, dangerous and closed in place that is dealing with high levels of crime. However, it’s somewhere that a student like our unnamed protagonist can find cheap housing, which they’ve done. We take control of them as they’ve exited the car after first driving to their new home, and help them find their apartment. Of course, if that’s all there was to it, this would be a boring experience.
From the onset, it’s clear that this walled in city, and this individual building, is not a nice place to live. The halls are damp, the floors are wet, there’s shit everywhere and it all feels very outdated. Doors and stairways are blocked off by clutter (but that’s also a video game design tactic), nobody is around and a poor dog is left without food. It’s quiet, dark, eerie and disquieting.
After making one’s way to the fourth floor apartment, a note is discovered. It says to go back out and find the store, which is where the landlady left the key. Then, the apartment is accessible. However, it soon becomes clear that the previous tenants didn’t move out. There’s enough canned food and preserves in the big pantry to last for weeks, there are plants in the kitchen and more. It wasn’t until I tried to open one door that I discovered this wasn’t to be a single person occupancy apartment after all. The landlady would also live there, and her room was locked because she was in there? Cue the horror.
Why is this scary? Well, soon after dropping their stuff off in their room, the main character discovers a note from a former tenant, saying that the landlady wouldn’t let them leave. After that, the door to the hallway becomes locked and a feeling of being trapped kicks in. Knocking on her door doesn’t help, because she’s slithered back in there, locked it and just slides a note under the door.
This obviously isn’t going to work. It isn’t safe, it’s creepy and it’s potentially dangerous. Thus, the goal becomes to escape and flee for one’s life.
Welcome to Kowloon is a game about finding a new home, then immediately trying to flee it. Cheap housing in a decaying and crime ridden city has led to nightmarish discoveries, many of which await the player as he or she attempts to flee. This includes visions of the dead, monsters, decay and things that cannot easily be described using words. It seems like only nightmares reside there.
Being that this is a walking simulator of sorts, most of the gameplay involves looking around, searching for things, solving the odd light puzzle, finding necessary items and running. There’s not a lot of depth to it, but it works. However, the walking animation and player controls can be janky and disorienting. It’s hard to explain, but the movement, camera and head bobbing felt off. It didn’t feel straight, or natural. This took a little while to get used to.
There’s a chase sequence that also frustrated me, because it left little room for error and was more trial and error than anything. At times, the game’s objectives and progression also left things to be desired. It could be clunky, a bit obtuse and the like. Plus, I also found it hard to get the interact icon to appear, and had to fight with the camera a bit. That seems to have become a trend, though. Possibly because these games were designed for mouse and keyboard.
I feel like I would have finished it sooner if not for these noted annoyances, but I still beat it in maybe 1.5 hours, or less. This isn’t a long game.
Welcome to Kowloon does have an interesting, unique and somewhat memorable setting, even if it’s mostly contained in a strange building. Its art design is strong, the visuals are good (albeit rough around the edges and slightly dated), and its lighting is great. I was really impressed with the latter.
If you’re looking for a disturbing, nightmarish and unpredictable horror game, and are good with walking simulator mechanics, then Welcome to Kowloon will be up your alley. It’s rough around the edges, can be frustrating and has some issues, but it fits the bill. It’s atmospheric and has great lighting, not to mention a unique setting.
This review is based on the XBOX Series X version of the game, which we were provided with.