The horror genre is saturated with new releases every year, yet a surprising void remains: truly terrifying alien-centric games. While alien shooters like Aliens: Fireteam Elite abound, games that present extraterrestrials as genuinely frightening threats, rather than cannon fodder, are scarce. Alien: Isolation (2014) stands out as a recent example of true alien horror. Greyhill Incident appeared poised to fill this gap, but unfortunately, it squanders its potential, missing the mark in almost every aspect.
The game casts you as Ryan Baker, a concerned father and neighborhood watch member in a rural community buzzing with suspicion. While some residents advocate contacting authorities about the unsettling nighttime occurrences, others believe a conspiracy is afoot. As expected, the neighbors’ fears are justified when small, grey aliens descend, their saucer landing in a nearby cornfield. Your mission is to uncover the truth and survive the night.
Despite a promising premise reminiscent of classic 1960s and 70s alien films, Greyhill Incident fumbles its execution. The writing is jarring and inconsistent, beginning with a baffling scene where you, the player, inexplicably yell at your son, a character introduced mere seconds prior with zero context. The game attempts to inject humor with clichéd characters like a tinfoil-hat-wearing conspiracy theorist who, unsurprisingly, recommends using tinfoil for protection against the aliens – advice your character accepts. While this could have been a playful homage to campy alien movies, it falls flat, feeling more like a generic AI-generated script. The writing lacks the wit to land its jokes and the depth to create genuine scares.
Greyhill Incident is a first-person game, evoking Outlast with a touch of light combat, including a revolver. First-person perspective offers an ideal framework for horror, immersing players and creating intimate encounters with the game’s threats. However, Greyhill Incident fails to generate any palpable tension.
Aside from the initial sighting of the aliens emerging from their saucer, the game elicited little emotional response. While jump scares aren’t essential for effective horror, Greyhill Incident lacks any other elements to commend it. Even when pursued by the aliens, the experience feels more comical than terrifying.
The aliens’ slow, deliberate movements resemble a welcoming committee rather than menacing abductors. They lack the chilling presence of a figure like Michael Myers, their fragility exposed when two bullets send them crumpling to the ground. If they do manage to catch you, the resulting grapple, with its shaky camera and forced head-on view of the alien, feels awkward and anticlimactic.
The combat and stealth mechanics are equally shallow. The aliens possess an unusually wide field of vision, giving chase after the briefest glimpse of the player. While hiding spots like beds, closets, and cars offer respite, the aliens’ long-range sight limits opportunities for meaningful stealth. Ammo scarcity discourages combat, leaving running as the primary survival strategy.
Even with an update addressing stamina, it depletes quickly, and movement feels sluggish. The baseball bat, seemingly also tied to stamina, suffers from a slow recharge between swings. Its effectiveness is questionable; it appears to merely stun the aliens momentarily, offering a brief window for escape.
The game’s linear structure is further hampered by a lack of clear direction, leaving players wandering aimlessly in the dark, often bumping against invisible walls in the cornfields. While cornfields at night could be a breeding ground for suspense, the game fails to capitalize on this potential, offering no unsettling sounds, glimpses of lurking aliens, or other elements to build atmosphere. The vague objectives, which unlock previously inaccessible map areas, further compound the frustration. Early on, players are instructed to visit a neighbor’s house “over there,” with no waypoint or clear indication of the location, rendering the instruction useless.
Adding to the woes, Greyhill Incident suffers from technical jankiness. Controller navigation on PC requires a mouse and keyboard for menus. The control scheme itself is convoluted, requiring players to hold LB to draw the weapon and RT to fire, creating an uncomfortable experience. Button mapping is seemingly limited to keyboard and mouse, unavailable for controllers on PC.
Numerous smaller issues further detract from the experience, including overlapping audio, aliens clipping through doors, and general inconsistencies. At one point, a thin, fallen tree becomes an impassable obstacle, despite its size. These frustrating moments highlight a lack of polish and attention to detail.
Ultimately, Greyhill Incident is a significant disappointment. It had the potential to be a compelling, albeit short, horror experience, leveraging the unsettling nature of alien encounters. Instead, it delivers a bland and uninspired game that feels like a rough draft of something much better. Its only redeeming quality is its brevity.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
Greyhill Incident is available now on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC. A PC review code was provided by the publisher.
