The Dark Picture Anthology: House of Ashes is a narrative-driven adventure game developed by Supermassive Games and published by Bandai Namco. This game is the third installment to the franchise of the same title. In it, you'll navigate an underground labyrinth filled with deadly and horrifying creatures. However, these monsters are not your only threat.

House of Ashes will be the first in the anthology that has three difficulty settings. Moreover, the two critically-acclaimed multiplayer modes are back. With this, you can share your story online with a friend or join a party of five in the offline pass-the-pad mode. 

Survive the underworld

The Dark Picture Anthology is a series of standalone interactive horror games where your decisions will determine the story. House of Ashes is the third installment to the saga. As with its predecessors, it features a new story bringing players into the sandy shadows of the Zagros Mountains. It also stars five playable characters—three American military personnel, one American CIA agent, and one Iraqi soldier.

In the game, military operatives searching for weapons of mass destruction were ambushed by a local patrol. During the battle, an earthquake opened sinkholes in the ground, pitching both sides into the ruins of a buried Sumerian temple. Now, they must navigate the underworld and escape. However, something far deadlier has awakened, marking them as the new prey. The opposing faction must band together to survive the night below.

As mentioned, the game offers 3 difficulty settings: Forgiving, Challenging, and Lethal gameplay. The fixed cameras from the previous titles are also gone and replaced by 360-degree cameras. You can even toggle the flashlight as you explore the buried temple. The Moral Compass is also redesigned and now resembles Until Dawn's Butterfly effect. Finally, multiplayer mode is back, allowing you to play with your friends. 

Should you play it?

Overall, The Dark Picture Anthology: House of Ashes ante up the challenge that the saga offers its fans. The game brings a horrifying story that will have players at the edge of their seats as they play. Not only that, but it also comes with new features that will make the experience more challenging. Moreover, the fact that the monsters are not your only enemy adds intrigue to the gameplay.