I Hate This Place: ’80s Horror Vibes and Brutal Survival—A Gamer’s First Impressions

Why “I Hate This Place” Stands Out in the Survival Horror Crowd

As someone who grew up juggling Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and endless indie horror pretenders, my radar is always up for any survival horror that promises more than just cheap jump scares. “I Hate This Place” immediately caught my attention-not just for its deliciously retro isometric style, but because it’s adapting a bloody, irreverent comic that most gamers outside the die-hard comics scene have barely heard of. That, plus a team backed by genre giants like Bloober Team via their Broken Mirror label, is enough to make me raise an eyebrow-both in anticipation and suspicion.

• 80s horror movie vibes set it apart from generic survival horror knockoffs
• Resource scarcity and genuine threat keep the tension real
• Sound-design and noise mechanics push immersion (and paranoia)
• Early build hints at depth, but interface and narrative polish still needed

Key Takeaways for Horror Fans-and Skeptics

• This isn’t just a throwback or lazy adaptation—it’s channeling that kitchen-sink ’80s horror energy with modern survival mechanics.
• The combat has just enough jank (think fixed attack arcs, precision dodging) that you can’t brainlessly mow down zombies—you need to play smart.
• There’s real emphasis on sound—every step you take shows exactly how much noise you’re making, forcing you to think before sprinting into the next mob (a mechanic I wish more games took seriously).
• Early interface quirks are there, but after a few minutes you start to adapt—which bodes well if the devs tighten this up before launch.

The Real Story: Comics, Creature Features, and Survival Roots

Here’s what jumped out at me after a sweaty 30-minute demo: unlike most “inspired by [insert obscure IP]” games, I Hate This Place actually feels like it understands the weird, gross energy of its source material. This isn’t a reskin or a cash-grab—it leans into the clunky, oppressive labyrinth of its comic source, dropping you into a mutant-filled lab straight from a VHS fever dream. You start off with a bat, a sense of dread, and not much else. Weapons open up as you explore, but there’s none of that triple-A power fantasy here—run out of ammo, miss a dodge, and you’ll pay for it fast.

Genre fans will appreciate the return to limited resources and forced inventory management (with enough safe room breathing space to strategize, not just panic). If you grew up looting every locker in classic Resident Evil, you know the vibe. The demo’s puzzles aren’t groundbreaking—flip switches, fix generators, clear paths—but they’re functional, and honestly, that’s better than games that try to outsmart themselves with convoluted nonsense.

Atmosphere Over Gimmicks: Sound, UI, and the Little Stuff

What actually impressed me? The sound work. With headphones on, every monster snarl and door creak made me tense up. There’s also this great visual “THUD” mechanic tied to your movement—sneak, walk, or run, and the colored trail instantly shows how much noise you’re making. It’ll force even the most impatient players to think, and you just know some streamer’s going to regret ignoring it on launch day. That sort of detail is what pushes a survival horror from forgettable to memorable.

The interface, right now, isn’t perfect—sometimes you click around looking for a menu or a button that’s not obvious. Honestly, I’m not panicking yet: early demos are where kinks like this get worked out, and Rock Square Thunder’s approach feels responsive enough to user feedback from hands-ons and streams. What’s missing, at least in the demo, is a deep narrative hook or crazy environmental variety—they’re promising more in the full game, and for a story-driven horror title, that’ll be critical.

Is I Hate This Place Worth Getting Hyped For?

If you live for resource-limited horror and love a good ’80s creature feature vibe, this should be on your radar, period. Is it doing something radically new? Not yet. But the execution matters—the claustrophobic levels, tension-heavy design choices, and that comic-inspired weirdness are a real draw. There’s always the risk these adaptations get watered down, especially when a comic is virtually unknown in a market, but there’s enough personality here to feel confident it isn’t just filling a publisher’s schedule.

TL;DR

“I Hate This Place” is shaping up to be more than another disposable horror indie—it’s a survival horror that nails that VHS nightmare feeling and isn’t afraid to punish sloppiness. If the full release sharpens the UI and pays off its horror-comic source, it could be a cult favorite. Wait for reviews, but keep it on your list if you crave old-school tension.