Horace (video game)

Last updated

Horace
Horacevideogame.png
Developer(s) Paul Helman
Sean Scaplehorn
Publisher(s) 505 Games
Engine Unity Engine
Platform(s)
Release
  • Microsoft Windows
  • WW: July 19, 2019
  • Nintendo Switch
  • WW: October 21, 2020
  • PS4, Xbox One
  • WW: February 28, 2023
Genre(s) Platform, Metroidvania
Mode(s) Single-player

Horace is a 2019 platform video game developed by British indie developers Paul Helman and Sean Scaplehorn, and published by 505 Games. The game was originally launched for Microsoft Windows on July 19, 2019, with a Nintendo Switch port released on October 21, 2020. The game also released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on February 28, 2023. Players control the titular Horace, a sentient robot who is adopted by a wealthy British family. Following a period of dormancy, Horace is reactivated and finds himself searching for a sense of purpose in a war-torn post-apocalyptic world.

Contents

The gameplay of Horace primarily features action-adventure and platform game elements, with guided non-linearity as well as utility-gated exploration and progression typical of the Metroidvania subgenre. Certain segments switch between several video game genres, with elements ranging from racing games to fighting games. Horace was met with a generally positive critical reception for both PC and console platforms.

Gameplay

Horace is presented as a story-driven side-scrolling video game with 2D pixel art. In order to complete objectives and progress through the story, players must navigate the game's title character, a sentient robot named Horace, through a labyrinthine series of rooms presented as a platform game. Acquiring key items or ability upgrades for Horace enable players to explore areas that were previously impossible to reach.

The platform gameplay of Horace is characterized by fine control and careful timing, as the player guides Horace into running and jumping over hazardous obstacles like trap-lined ceilings and spike-filled ravines found throughout the game's many levels. Prior to its ending, Horace can be continuously played without triggering a "game over" scenario: whenever Horace dies, he is immediately transported back to the last checkpoint within the same room. Additional orb-like "shields" or hit points collected by the player allow Horace to survive what is otherwise a lethal hit. If the player character dies repeatedly at a particular section, the game adjusts the difficulty in response to the numerous failed attempts to progress by offering additional shields for players to pick up. [1]

Players will encounter numerous mini-games which resemble arcade cabinets that feature fully-playable versions of typical arcade games throughout the game world. While predominantly optional, a few sections of Horace require the successful completion of a mini-game before players are allowed to progress through the story. Minigames may involve gameplay elements such as fighting, shooting, racing, flying sequences, and rhythm action sequences. [1]

An optional objective for players to complete is to have Horace clean up at least 1 million units of rubbish by the game's end. These waste items represent the game's collectible system, which provides an incentive for players to thoroughly explore the in-game world to acquire achievements. [1]

Development and release

Horace was primarily developed by Paul Helman across seven years. [2] He was responsible for the project's art, design, music, gameplay, writing and promotion of the project. Three years after the development of Horace commenced, Helman received some assistance from programmer Sean Scaplehorn, who helped create a game demo for a conference in London which drew the attention of some publisher representatives in attendance. [2] 505 Games eventually approached Helman with a publishing deal; the company assigned Helman a producer and allowed him creative freedom to develop Horace for four years. [2]

Some of the major influences for Horace included Helman's past work experiences with the Die Hard Trilogy as a one-time employee of Probe Entertainment; the development of a video game called Boom TV which was eventually canceled as a result of the September 11 attacks due to the presence of the World Trade Center buildings as a destructible environmental element; and the sights and surroundings of the industrial town of Sittingbourne where Helman resides. [2] The scope and scale of the Final Fantasy role-playing game franchise informed Helman's desire to make an "arty platformer" which gradually expands into a sprawling in-game world. [2] The plot of Horace, a satirical story about a robot who is unwittingly elevated into a prominent public figure and is attempting to reunite with individuals he consider to be his family, is inspired by the story arc of the protagonist of the 1979 film Being There . [2] A self-professed pop culture enthusiast, Helman promoted Horace as a game that appeals to nostalgia: he intentionally seeded numerous cultural references or in-jokes to classical music, cinema and video games throughout the in-game world. [2]

The Windows version of Horace was launched on July 19, 2019. A port for the Nintendo Switch was released on October 21, 2020. [3] A limited physical release for Horace was available through Super Rare's website, limited to a purchase of two copies per person. The release run consisted of 4,000 copies available, with each copy bundled with interior artwork, an exclusive sticker, trading cards, and a full-colour manual. [4]

Reception

According to review aggregator Metacritic, both PC and Nintendo Switch versions of Horace has received generally favorable reviews. [5] [6]

On November 28, 2022, Paul Helman received the Love Story Gaming Award for Excellence in Storytelling for his work on Horace. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Super Mario</i> Video game series

Super Mario is a platform game series created by Nintendo starring their mascot, Mario. It is the central series of the greater Mario franchise. At least one Super Mario game has been released for every major Nintendo video game console. However, there have also been a number of Super Mario video games released on non-Nintendo gaming platforms. There are more than 20 games in the series.

<i>Terraria</i> 2011 video game

Terraria is a 2011 action-adventure sandbox game developed by Re-Logic. The game was first released for Windows and has since been ported to other PC and console platforms. The game features exploration, crafting, building, painting, and combat with a variety of creatures in a procedurally generated 2D world. Terraria is one of the best-selling video games of all time, selling 58.7 million copies as of 2024.

<i>SteamWorld Dig</i> 2013 video game

SteamWorld Dig is a platform action-adventure game created by Swedish video game developer Image & Form. The second installment in the SteamWorld series after SteamWorld Tower Defense, SteamWorld Dig has the player control Rusty, a steam-powered robot who arrives at a small Western-Steampunk mining town called Tumbleton after having received a deed for a mine from his long-forgotten uncle, Joe. The objective of the game is to dig through Tumbleton's mine, which also involves solving puzzles and platforming to avoid traps and enemies.

<i>SteamWorld Heist</i> 2015 video game

SteamWorld Heist is a turn-based tactics shooter video game developed and published by Image & Form. The third installment of the SteamWorld series and the sequel to SteamWorld Dig, SteamWorld Heist has the player control Captain Piper Faraday, a smuggler and occasional pirate, as she recruits a ragtag team of robots and sets out on a space adventure. The objective of the game is for players to board, loot, and shoot their way through enemy spaceships.

<i>Portal Knights</i> 2017 video game

Portal Knights is an independent survival action role-playing video game developed by Keen Games and published by 505 Games. It was first released on Steam on 18 May 2017 and subsequently released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS.

<i>Road Redemption</i> 2017 video game

Road Redemption is a vehicular combat racing video game developed by EQ-Games and Pixel Dash Studios. The game is a spiritual successor to the Road Rash series and was released for Windows PC on October 4, 2017. Console versions of Road Redemption were released on November 6, 2018, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

<i>SteamWorld Dig 2</i> 2017 video game

SteamWorld Dig 2 is an action-adventure platform video game developed and published by Image & Form. It is the fourth installment in the SteamWorld series of games and the direct sequel to 2013's SteamWorld Dig. It was first released in September 2017 for Nintendo Switch, Linux, macOS, Windows, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita. It was later released for Nintendo 3DS in February 2018, for Xbox One in November 2018, for Stadia in March 2020, and for Amazon Luna in October 2020. Publisher Rising Star Games released physical retail copies of the game for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2018.

<i>OneShot</i> 2016 video game

OneShot is a puzzle-adventure game developed by the indie studio Future Cat and published by Degica. Based on a free version made in 2014, it was released for Windows on December 8, 2016. A console adaptation, OneShot: World Machine Edition, was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on September 22, 2022.

<i>Human: Fall Flat</i> 2016 video game

Human: Fall Flat is a puzzle-platform game developed by No Brakes Games and published by Curve Digital. It was initially released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux in July 2016, and received ports for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Google Stadia, and iOS and Android over the next several years.

<i>SteamWorld Quest</i> 2019 video game

SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech is a turn-based role-playing game and deck-building game hybrid that is part of the SteamWorld series of video games. It was developed by Image & Form and published by Thunderful Publishing. The game was released for Nintendo Switch on April 25, 2019, for Windows, macOS, and Linux on May 31, 2019, for Stadia on March 3, 2020, and for Amazon Luna on October 20, 2020.

<i>Ghostrunner</i> 2020 cyberpunk video game

Ghostrunner is a 2020 action platform video game co-developed by One More Level and Slipgate Ironworks, produced by 3D Realms, and co-published by 505 Games and All in! Games. The game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One in October 2020, and Nintendo Switch in November 2020, followed by a next gen release for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in September 2021. A version for Amazon Luna was made available in April 2021. A story expansion, titled Ghostrunner: Project Hel, was released on 3 March 2022.

<i>Axiom Verge 2</i> 2021 video game

Axiom Verge 2 is a Metroidvania video game by American indie developer Thomas Happ Games. It is the sequel to Axiom Verge and was released on August 11, 2021, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Windows. The game was later released on Steam and PlayStation 5 in August 2022. It was also ported to Xbox One in July 2023.

<i>SnowRunner</i> 2020 video game

SnowRunner is a 2020 off-road simulation video game developed by Saber Interactive and published by Focus Home Interactive. Following on from Spintires and the sequel MudRunner, the game was announced as MudRunner 2 in August 2018. Focus Home and Saber Interactive re-revealed the title a year later as SnowRunner. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on April 28, 2020, which was followed by a port for Nintendo Switch on May 18, 2021. It was released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on May 31, 2022. SnowRunner has the player control off-road vehicles as they traverse locations to complete objectives. The game features over 60 different vehicles and more than 15 locations. Much of the content is delivered across 4 anniversary year editions as DLC. A spin-off title, Expeditions: A MudRunner Game was released on March 5, 2024.

<i>Green Hell</i> (video game) 2019 survival video game by Creepy Jar

Green Hell is a 2019 survival video game by Creepy Jar. The game takes place in the Amazon rainforest and was initially released for Windows in September 2019. A port for Nintendo Switch was released in October 2020, and versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One released in June 2021. The game was made available in August 2024 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The game concluded its development on September 3rd, 2024, with a final update introducing decorative features.

<i>60 Seconds!</i> 2015 action video game

60 Seconds! is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Polish studio Robot Gentleman. It was released for Windows on May 25, 2015, on December 18, 2017, for the Nintendo Switch, on March 6, 2020, for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, on December 28, 2017, for Android, and on September 22, 2016, for iOS. The game takes place in a suburban town as a nuclear bomb is set to detonate in 60 seconds, forcing a family of four to gather as many supplies as possible within the timeframe and then survive and eventually escape to a safer place with what supplies could be gathered.

<i>Syberia</i> Series of video games

Syberia is a franchise of graphic adventure games created by Belgian comic artist and video game developer Benoît Sokal. Set within an alternate universe designed by Sokal and introduced in the 1999 video game Amerzone, the series is currently developed and published by French video game company Microids. The central focus of the franchise, beginning with the eponymous 2002 video game, follows the experiences of Kate Walker, an American adventurer who originally worked as a lawyer in a prominent New York City law firm. In each installment, Walker travels to various fictional locations in continental Europe and former Soviet states during the 2000s, where she encounters fantastical creatures as well as highly advanced automatons powered by intricate clockwork mechanisms.

<i>Blazing Chrome</i> 2019 video game

Blazing Chrome is a run and gun video game developed by JoyMasher and published by The Arcade Crew. The game was released on July 11, 2019 for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game is set in the post-apocalyptic future of 21XX, following a war that nearly kills off the human race. A robot army rules the world, and attempt to destroy the remnants of humanity. The game follows a resistance group who fights back against them. Players can control two different characters: Mavra, a human resistance soldier, and Doyle, a robot reprogrammed to fight for the resistance.

<i>Kunai</i> (video game) 2020 action-platform video game

Kunai is an action-platform video game developed by TurtleBlaze and published by The Arcade Crew. The game was released on February 6, 2020 for Windows and Nintendo Switch. In the game, the player controls Tabby, a robot tasked with defeating Lemonkus, an AI that nearly causes the extinction of humanity. In July 2020, The Arcade Crew partnered with Limited Run Games to release physical copies of the Nintendo Switch version. The physical copies were released in October 2020. The PC version received generally favorable reviews, while the Nintendo Switch version received mixed reviews.

<i>Astria Ascending</i> 2021 video game

Astria Ascending is a 2021 role-playing game developed by Artisan Studios and published by Dear Villagers. Set in the fantasy world of Orcanon, the story of Astria Ascending follows a group of demigods called the "Fated Eight". They act as the agents of the goddess Yuno, who presides over the integrity of a multicultural society governed by a doctrine known as the Harmony and populated by sentient beings of various species.

<i>American Fugitive</i> 2019 video game

American Fugitive is an action-adventure video game developed by Fallen Tree Games and published by Curve Games. It is a Grand Theft Auto clone, though it mimics the earlier entries, which had a top-down perspective.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tarason, Dominic (September 20, 2019). "Horace is a massive platformer with an even bigger heart". PC Gamer– via www.pcgamer.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Robinson, Martin (November 3, 2019). "Horace's incredible journey". Eurogamer.net.
  3. ↑ Romano, Sal (October 1, 2020). "Platformer Horace coming to Switch on October 21". Gematsu.
  4. ↑ Gray, Kate (January 21, 2022). ""Indie Masterpiece" Platformer 'Horace' Gets Physical Release". Nintendo Life.
  5. 1 2 "Horace for PC Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Horace for Nintendo Switch Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  7. ↑ Love Story Gaming. "Paul Helman "Horace" Interview & Award!". YouTube. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.