Quick Review: The Hat Man: Shadow Ward

Something’s gone wrong in this asylum.

Well this looks pretty norm-

A creation of Game Mechanics LLC released on June 10th, 2016, The Hat Man: Shadow Ward is a first-person horror/exploration game about a parent searching for their daughter at the local insane asylum where she had been sent. Things quickly descent into horror as the parent (whose gender you select at the start of the game) stumbles on their child’s journal, which comes to life, explodes, and spreads its pages across the facility. At the same time, said facility turns into a decrepit version of itself, with hardly a trace of light around.

....Okay. Yeah.

What’s worse, the pages the parent finds while exploring this shadow world version of the facility indicate that there’s a very real, very demonic presence roaming its halls. The Hat Man is on the prowl. Can this parent rescue their child without coming face-to-face with that wannabe Slenderman?

Why are all of these decrepit buildings so dark...
Right. No electricity. Silly me.

The gameplay here is very basic; move around with WASD, use the mouse to control the camera, and click to open doors and pick up items. You can switch between items you find with the numpad and use them to progress; as an example, very early on, you get an axe, and use it to break a door, which leads to the rest of the psychiatric ward. Most of the time, though, you’ll find the pages of the daughter’s journal; 23 pages total. They’re tied to progression in the game, so new areas are unlocked when you gather enough. Also of note, louder music will resonate whenever you’re in a room with a page.

...what? You've never seen a skeleton
taking an oil bath? You gotta get out more.

You kind of need that auditory clue, as there is no map. The ward is procedurally-generated on each playthrough, which means that you can’t even rely on your memory to remember a “path” you’ve taken before. You acquire a flashlight early on, which you can shine on darkness monsters to make them disappear… Oh great, I’m having déjà vu. When the flashlight falters and the sound of heartbeat gets stronger, this means that the Hat Man is coming close. Coming into contact with it is an instant Game Over, forcing you to start over. Only one solution: Move, constantly, and pick up whatever you find on the way. You’ll always pick up the pages in the same order, so it’s not like you can “miss” one (and worst case scenario, if you “miss” one, since progress is tied to the pages you collect, you’ll just keep going through the procedurally-generated maze until you’ve picked up more pages).

Oh no. I died. ...that's it, really?
This doesn't even spook.

It’s… very forgettable. This game does ambiance fairly well and doesn’t shy from showing creepy things, but ends up feeling very repetitive since most of the hallways and rooms look so alike. Sure, there’s a new detail here or there, like a boiler or a splash of blood on the floor, but they don’t help make any of the rooms in the main part of the game feel different. The change from a normal psychiatric ward into a hellhole is sudden and inexplicable.

I don’t recall seeing dark ghosts in the maze of rooms; only in the starting room where the place becomes ugly. What’s even the point of having them, if they don’t appear anywhere else? Admittedly, the concept of being chased and, therefore, always having to move, is pretty interesting, but the concept is kept to its bare minimum, with hardly anything original to do with it. Last but not least, the voice acting for the journal pages is subpar, and while you can choose between playing the daughter’s father or mother, that option actually makes no difference whatsoever in gameplay.

Nope, no difference.

You can skip that one, definitely. But if you still want to try it, The Hat Man: Shadow Ward is usually sold for 9.99$ on Steam.