"I Hate This Place" in Review: A Playable B-Movie with 80s Flair

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Rock Square Thunder delivers with “I Hate This Place,” an adaptation of the comic series of the same name by Kyle Starks and Artyom Topilin, packaged in shrill colors, bold outlines, and a setting reminiscent of a mix between “Stranger Things” and “Kingdom of Night.” Gameplay-wise, it's primarily about survival: scavenging, crafting, fighting, and trying to go unnoticed as much as possible.

A Playable B-Movie

“I Hate This Place” sends protagonist Elena back to her rural hometown, where she wants to solve a childhood mystery together with her friend Lou. A questionable ritual is supposed to help, but of course, the plan backfires. Suddenly, Lou disappears, and Elena has to fight her way through a creepy forest full of monsters, bloody rituals, and shady figures searching for her.

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„I Hate This Place“ im Test (7 Bilder)

The story is deliberately staged with clichés, featuring clueless cultists, exaggerated mutants, bloodthirsty deer, abandoned mines, and mysterious military bunkers. “I Hate This Place” doesn't take itself too seriously and tells its charming B-movie plot with a wink. While there are no grandly staged cutscenes, an excellently cast voice actor ensemble imbues the characters with personality even without extensive animation.

The comic style, fitting for the source material, also contributes to the atmosphere. The game skillfully uses light, sound, and camera perspective to create unease and craft a world that feels dangerous, alien, and fascinating all at once. Both the cursed forest on the surface and the underground bunkers and mines invite exploration with many small secrets, mysteries, puzzles, and rewards.

Not All Cogs Mesh

Gameplay-wise, “I Hate This Place” mixes classic survival horror elements with stealth passages, crafting, a day-night cycle, and the necessity to eat regularly. While this provides variety, some systems remain superficial. This makes the game more accessible overall, but with immature balancing, some systems quickly feel redundant. Crafting, in particular, can negatively impact the other game mechanics as the game progresses.

Although food, ammunition, and weapons are generally scarce, those who venture into the open world early can quickly circumvent the system. Especially during the day, when most monsters are asleep, it's too easy to gather resources. With pockets full, one's base can be quickly expanded, which in turn leads to an abundance of weapons, ammunition, and food. Previously overpowered giant spiders become cannon fodder, and the hunger system, which can block Elena's stamina if ignored, quickly loses its appeal with 50 soups in the backpack.

Even the nights, which are actually exciting and packed with many nice surprises, are slowed down by Elena's rapidly growing superiority. Therefore, our tip: generally, only go into the forest at night. When the moon shines, the forests teem with life, and Elena will encounter one or another restless spirit. She will be transported to a parallel world where she must solve the death of the respective apparition with a bit of detective work. These small side stories provide variety and are nicely interwoven with the NPCs from the main story.

The melee and ranged combat with baseball bats, flare guns, and shotguns are mostly well-executed: the twin-stick controls on the controller – left for movement, right for aiming – work well. Only when trying to throw a Molotov cocktail over the shoulder during a chase with a giant spider does it falter. In seven out of ten cases, Elena sets herself on fire due to the sluggish aiming system. Freely selectable key bindings would also have been a great addition to the game.

Conclusion: Indie Gem Despite Minor Flaws

“I Hate This Place” is a charming attempt to bring more momentum to the survival horror genre with new elements. However, a few flaws hold the game back. The individual game mechanics remain too superficial and are not always optimally balanced, and the technology could also use some fine-tuning. Nevertheless, the quirky world, the mysterious atmosphere, the great voice actors, and the B-movie story, always served with a wink, make “I Hate This Place” a recommendable adventure for horror fans with an 80s flair.

“I Hate This Place” is rated 16+ and will be released on January 29, 2026, for PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. The price is 29.99 euros.

(joe)