Developer: tinyBuild
Publisher: tinyBuild
Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS5
Hello Engineer – Review
It’s not uncommon for popular game franchises to eventually branch out by releasing spin-off titles. Mostly these titles revolve around secondary characters of the main franchise, or they delve into an adventure that happens in the same universe. This happens to be the case for Hello Engineer, which is a title that is linked to the Hello Neighbor games. In this game, however, you won’t be sneaking around your neighbor’s house, but you’ll actually be making your own vehicles to escape from the neighbor. Even though the idea sounded interesting on paper, the execution was horrible.
Story
There is no real story value to be found in Hello Engineer. You sometimes get short cutscenes that show the dastardly ‘Neighbor’ from Hello Neighbor who is trying to thwart your plans, but that’s about it. You’re not going to play this title for its story value anyway, as it’s basically a vehicle-building simulation title with a Hello Neighbor theme slapped on top of it.
Graphics
Hello Engineer is a fairly ugly game. While the overall visuals remain true to the game’s source material, everything looks dated, unfinished, and just downright underwhelming. The game doesn’t only suffer from unattractive characters and vehicle models, but you’ll quickly notice that the terrain doesn’t even make contact with your vehicle, and driving through mud and other obstacles results in extreme clipping errors. We felt like we were running the Switch version on our PlayStation 5, which is just a shame.
Sound
Just like the graphics, the sound design is very underwhelming. There’s no real background music, and you’ll have to make do with simple sound effects. These sound effects sound like they’re directly lifted from an online free sound library, and thus these SFX will not blow you away either. Other than that, there’s no voice acting in the game either, which in turn results in a very bland and boring soundscape.
Gameplay
Hello Engineer is a simulation title in which you build strange cars in order to pass through obstacle courses. The game will gradually ease you in by adding new components as you progress through the levels. For the most part, Hello Engineer is fairly straightforward, as you simply build your ride, then see if your vehicle can pass through the obstacle course, and if necessary you can make adjustments to try again. The game does have a fair few stages to plow through, but truth be told, potential players will probably be deterred by the poorly executed gameplay elements.
Sadly, while the idea sounds quite good on paper, the execution is horrendous. Firstly, the building controls are atrocious. Selecting components and attaching them to other parts of your ride is frustrating at best, and the game often decides to ‘snap’ items into place in bizarre and illogical ways, causing even more frustration. We frequently found ourselves approaching our build with a new part from every possible angle, hoping it would properly align and connect. Of course, as we grew a bit more used to the awful controls, we did come to grips with a few of the game’s finer mechanics, and some parts were added to our rig slightly easier. We still think a mouse and keyboard setup here will provide you with a world of difference, and we honestly think that building vehicles on PC might actually turn into something a lot more satisfying.
Things sadly don’t fare any better when actually controlling your contraptions. Not only will you have to deal with awkward and unresponsive controls, but you’ll also notice that the game’s physics are nonsensical and horrible. Even with a nicely created rig, you’ll never feel in control, and it feels as if your car is never even connected with the surface. Due to this, the handling is floaty at best, and more than often it seems that finishing a stage is just a matter of dumb luck.
Conclusion
Hello Engineer’s console version is simply not a fun experience. While the concept of creating your own vehicles is rather entertaining, the Hello Neighbor theme feels out of place here, and the overall gameplay elements simply did not cut it. You’ll be submitted to horrendous controls, extremely dated graphics, and just abysmal physics. The current version of Hello Engineer feels like a beta, and that’s us still being fairly generous. Even at its low price of entry, we suggest you steer clear of this one.
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