Developer: Eek! Games
Publisher: Eek! Games
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
House Party – Preview
House Party is a game about going to a party and getting laid. Seriously, that’s it. That’s the whole game. Not to say that that’s a bad thing necessarily, but it’s something you need to know before going in. House Party has no linear storyline or defined ending. Rather, there’s a certain amount of increasingly weird objectives one can strife to complete, most of them winding up in some kind of hilarious situation with undressed girls and unsavory activities. In other words, fun for the entire family
There’s a few different stories to play through. In the main one, which is also the biggest chunk of the game, you play as an unnamed man who is invited by his best friend Derek to a party where he doesn’t know anybody else. A horror scenario for every introvert among us. However, there’s plenty of girls at the party, and as one expects, your goal is get to know them better and to try and get laid with at least one of them. You can freely attempt to seduce multiple girls at once without problem, though some actions will make completing another objective impossible. This makes the game fairly replay-able, as different actions will make for different outcomes to explore. There is no ending either, you just run out of things to try. There’s two bonus stories you can play that are far more linear and condensed. They focus more on puzzle solving and each have different endings too that are a nice addition to the game.
Most of the game focusses on simple puzzle solving through finding various objects and using them in combination with the right item at the right time. Finding these objects can be surprisingly hard, as they’re not always in apparent places or might be hiding behind other stuff. Your crosshair turns purple if you aim it at something or someone inter-actable, to indicate you’ve found something, but it’s still sometimes hard to see what items are useable and which aren’t. Neither is it always very clear what to use and when, making the game more challenging than expected. Finding and figuring out the correct way to utilize each object takes a bit of puzzle solving. Beyond that, you can run around the party, talk to the various characters as well as press P at any given moment to whip out your dick, with the expected responses. You can even rub one out, so to speak, whenever you like.
Beware though, because it is still possible to get a game over by pissing off another character so much they call Frank, local buff guy and anti-alcohol enthusiast, to come beat you up. Being inappropriate or rude is an excellent way to piss others off, after all. Frank will also come for you whenever you use alcohol within his sight, giving the game a certain stealth element to boost.
Each character also comes with a set of stats. These indicate whether or not the character is sober, how much you have befriended them and if they’re romantically interested in you. Those last two are mainly altered by various dialogue options presented to you when talking to the characters, as well as by completing objectives, and are the main focus of the game.
The graphics of House Party are decent. The more realistic animation approach can veer off into uncanny valley territory at times, especially for the more intense facial expressions, but overall House Party is a nice game to look at. The map is rather small, but varied looking. When you talk to people the screen will lock and you’ll be unable to turn your head as you talk to them. Sadly this often also happens when you’re not actually looking at the person you’re talking to, making it so you’re left having entire conversations while staring at the wall. Though this is only a minor complaint.
There is barely any background music in House Party to speak of and often scenes will play out without any music. This is more than made up for though by the stellar voice acting. Despite what the game appears as, there has been put real work into the voices and they end up sounding very realistic, with proper intonation and emotion. It’s a nice touch that really adds that bit extra to the game. All the characters are voiced besides the main character you’re playing.
Conclusion
House Party is an interesting game for a studios first endeavor. The graphics are impressively well-animated and the voices are expertly done, something one wouldn’t expect from a game like this, which focuses more on comedy than story. Overall House Party is a fun experience if you’re looking for a quick laugh or like absurd situations, with hilarious dialogue and adult themes. But if you’re looking for an experience with more to it than just drugs, girls and booze, this isn’t the game for you.
House Party - Preview,
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