Beyond Hanwell

About

"Beyond Hanwell" is a first-person exploration and combat game set in a richly detailed, atmospheric version of Westminster, London. The non-linear gameplay allows you to discover the world and its secrets in your own way, using a variety of weapons and environmental objects to take down enemies. With no HUD and immersive player feedback, the game keeps the tension high as you uncover the truth about yourself. Scavenge for resources and use creative methods to survive against anomalies in this intense, explorative experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

83%

Audience ScoreBased on 469 reviews

graphics90 positive mentions

stability30 negative mentions

The game features stunning graphics and a highly immersive atmosphere that effectively captures the horror genre.
Combat feels satisfying with a variety of weapons and enemies, providing a good mix of action and tension.
The open-world design allows for exploration and discovery, with unique locations and side quests that enhance the overall experience.

The game suffers from numerous bugs and performance issues, including graphical glitches and unresponsive controls.
Combat mechanics can feel clunky and unbalanced, with some enemies being overly tanky and difficult to manage.
The story lacks clarity and direction, leaving players confused about objectives and character motivations.

graphics
137 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
66%
32%
2%
The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim for their stunning visuals, immersive environments, and impressive lighting effects, contributing significantly to the overall atmosphere. While some minor graphical issues and low-resolution enemy designs were noted, the game is generally well-optimized and offers a variety of graphical settings to enhance performance. Overall, players find the graphics to be a standout feature, elevating the horror experience and making it visually captivating.
- “The graphics are stunning.”
- “Very immersive, graphics are on point with beautiful lighting, sounds, and reflection detail.”
- “Beyond Hanwell immerses players in a chilling post-apocalyptic London, crafting a terrifying world filled with realistic graphics and open-world exploration.”
- “This is a game where the environment and attention to detail through graphics comes first and game design comes at a significantly lesser priority.”
- “If you remember that time when 'horror made on Unity' was a meme thing - that's the same hot garbage, but kind of prettier to generate more sales from guys who care about graphics more than anything.”
- “When I turned it 'off' in settings, it made the entire screen wonky and created severe graphical anomalies.”
story
135 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
50%
7%
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it engaging and filled with unexpected twists, while others describe it as lackluster or predictable. Many appreciate the atmospheric storytelling and environmental details that enhance the narrative, though some feel that the main plot could be clearer and more cohesive. Overall, the combination of side quests and lore adds depth, making the experience enjoyable despite its flaws.
- “The story was enjoyable and took you to some truly unexpected places.”
- “The changing atmosphere between each location you enter and the slow telling of the story scattered about has really drawn me in.”
- “The game is incredible, the story is interesting, especially the twist at the end!”
- “The story was very lackluster and not really that creative.”
- “The story and especially the ending was a little disappointing.”
- “The main character has a goal, but I haven't seen any real story beats beyond just progressing toward that yet.”
atmosphere
111 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
70%
27%
3%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and haunting qualities, with many players highlighting the excellent sound design, graphics, and the ability to evoke a sense of dread and tension throughout various locations. While some critiques mention issues like barren environments or distracting pop-ups, the overall consensus is that the game's atmosphere significantly enhances the horror experience, making it a standout feature. Players appreciate the variety of enemies and the detailed environments that contribute to a genuinely creepy ambiance.
- “The atmosphere is astoundingly great.”
- “The game's immersive gameplay, stunning visuals, and intense atmosphere make it a standout title in the horror genre.”
- “Oozing with atmosphere, great sound design and superb graphics.”
- “The atmosphere is thick.”
- “It looks great, and it's got an absolutely creepy atmosphere but it's just... boring for me.”
- “Incredibly thick with dark atmosphere and overall creepiness.”
gameplay
83 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
64%
10%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players noting clunky mechanics, poorly explained systems, and a lack of meaningful threats during encounters, which diminishes the overall tension and engagement. While some appreciate the game's atmosphere, visuals, and potential for exploration, others criticize the combat as barebones and janky, with issues like bullet sponge bosses and frustrating movement mechanics. Overall, the game shows promise but requires significant polishing and quality of life improvements to enhance the gameplay experience.
- “Pretty decent story, really good atmosphere, pretty nice soundtrack, amazing environment, really fun levels, easy crafting system, gunplay is good, melee combat, lots of gameplay options you can change difficulty midgame which comes in handy for one of the cons listed below, graphics, decent optimization, melee combat is decent, the game doesn't feel like a chore, exploring the open world to find new entrances to levels is fun and there's a good amount it doesn't feel like you have to walk kilometers to find a new area which is really good.”
- “The game's immersive gameplay, stunning visuals, and intense atmosphere make it a standout title in the horror genre.”
- “The visuals are beautiful, gameplay is fun and I adore the ambiance of rainy London.”
- “Since there is no threat in any encounter, there's no weight to the gameplay, nor any critical thinking you have to do on how to engage enemies since you know you'll come out perfectly fine.”
- “Nice visuals, but gameplay is 'meh' at best and awfully clunky and bad at worst with weak combat, annoying character movement, and boring puzzles.”
- “Fighting/combat mechanics are very clunky.”
optimization
32 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
72%
9%
Overall, the game's optimization is a mixed bag; while some players report great performance, especially with ray tracing and high settings, others experience significant performance issues, particularly in specific areas like the Ministry of Justice. Many users appreciate the developers' commitment to patching and improving performance, but there is a consensus that further optimization is needed to enhance the experience across all systems.
- “Overall enjoyed my playthrough and after doing a majority of it on a 1660 Ti from a laptop, I'd say the game is pretty optimized.”
- “Additionally, it is optimized really well!”
- “There are some performance issues, but this is to be expected being an EA title. However, it is way more refined than some of the other recent horror releases on Steam, and the dev is actively patching/fixing, which is great.”
- “The biggest downside is currently the optimization, however that's something that can be fixed.”
- “That game has huge performance problems.”
- “The ministry of justice was the worst area for me, in terms of performance; not really sure why, but twice I had to alt+f4 out because it just killed my PC.”
stability
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous bugs and glitches affecting gameplay, including problems with AI behavior, door mechanics, and boss encounters. Players report frustrating visual hiccups and interaction errors, which detract from the overall experience. While some find potential in the game's concept, the persistent technical problems hinder enjoyment and progression.
- “Reloading also glitches out doors that are supposed to be open, closing them so you can't progress.”
- “It has its moments where it's extremely buggy, and you have to 'end it' in order to fix it. If you don't get to a checkpoint, you're spat out at the start of the level. Combat has some slight fluid issues, and the theater is a buggy mess. I've had items vanish when I went to go back for them, and I had an anomaly in the maintenance room take 18 shots to the head before it went down. I see massive potential in this, but these bugs so early on have deterred me from pursuing further at this time.”
- “Encountered a lot of glitches and stutters from simple interaction mechanics, and assets in the game weren't loading properly.”
music
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
56%
25%
19%
The music in the game is consistently praised for its high quality, contributing significantly to the overall atmosphere and immersion. Reviewers highlight the haunting soundtracks and ambient noises that enhance tension and unease, while also noting the excellent sound design that complements the gameplay experience. Overall, the music, along with voice acting, is considered top-notch and integral to the game's narrative and environmental storytelling.
- “The city was cool to explore with lots of side missions to do with rewards, the weather system was awesome (the anomalous storm!), combat was fun, sound design and music was top notch, and I really enjoyed the story and all the lore given through notes and emails.”
- “The game's sound design adds to the immersion, with haunting music and ambient noises creating tension and unease.”
- “Excellent atmosphere, scary environments and music, fast, terrifying enemies and well-developed lore.”
- “I think I understood the story; the graphics were solid, sounds, music, etc. I thought were done well.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is noted for its amusing references and relationships with other titles, but it is marred by technical issues that can render the game unplayable, such as text freezing during lore sequences. Overall, while the comedic elements are appreciated, they are overshadowed by gameplay hindrances.
- “Ohh, and a funny relationship with another huge title.”
- “One which was funny but made it unplayable.”
- “Lore to the building froze the text on the screen, making it funny, but impossible to play.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
75%
Reviews indicate that the grinding aspect of the game is perceived as tedious rather than engaging, with repetitive item collection and usage to progress through boarded-up areas. While some appreciate the effort from the small development studio, the overall sentiment leans towards frustration with the grindy mechanics.
- “No tedious item grabbing to open certain areas that were boarded up; use a hammer, sledge, or crowbar – it doesn't matter, they all work.”
- “I do believe this was a great attempt from a small development studio, but this was honestly more tedious than enjoyable.”
- “The grinding in this game feels endless and becomes a chore rather than a fun challenge.”
- “After hours of grinding, I still feel like I'm not making any real progress, which is incredibly frustrating.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development is noted to be decent, with users appreciating the character designs, although there is limited feedback on the depth of character growth or narrative progression.