Ghoul Britannia: Land of Hope and Gorey | PC Early Access Review
The British love puns, so it must come as no surprise that Ghoul Britannia: Land of Hope and Gorey is made by… checks notes… Australian indie developer Binary Space! Well, Australia is a former colony and still in the commonwealth, so I’m counting it. The classic point-and-click adventure game just came out in early access. I played the first two chapters of this dark take from Down Under on what happened to the United Kingdom after Brexit happened. The full release is planned for early 2020, and I will share what I thought of the game here.
Brexit Or Die
Here’s the premise, straight from the game’s website: “To bolster a workforce left badly depleted by a disastrous departure from the European Union, Brexiteers come up with an ingenious plan to exploit the dead and invite families to sell their deceased loved ones into state servitude. Reanimated as “Extended Labor Units” (ELUs) and tasked with menial labor, the dead take on jobs most Britons find undesirable.” Of course this goes horribly wrong. The once proud Great Britain quickly turns into a zombie nightmare, with many of the major and minor cities quickly overrun by the soulless creatures.
Trials And Tribulations
You start the game as Hope, who lives behind the barricades in a city within zombie-infested Britain. When things go really, really wrong, she has to escape the city by helicopter. But first she has to make sure all folks evacuate and the helicopter can actually land. These problems are solved in typical point-and-click manner, by examining and using items and talking to people. The first chapter is all about Hope’s trials, while the second chapter features a different character. To avoid spoilers I won’t say much about this one (hint: it’s in the title), but his path eventually coincides with Hope. And with lots of zombie fun along the way.
Darkly Funny
The title and the premise might give you the impression that this is a very funny game, but I was actually surprised by how dark it was. It takes its subject very seriously, but still peppers in plenty of humorous and dry dialogue or situations without losing sight of the horror that the main characters are in. The graphics have a bit of a cartoony quality and look very nice. Gameplay is as straightforward as can be expected from a point-and-click adventure game, and the puzzles fit the story. I got stuck on one, but that was mainly because I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings.
Conclusion
The first two chapters took me about two hours to play through, and it did leave me wanting more. There were a few bugs that the developer was aware of and will be fixed, but overall, Ghoul Britannia left me pleasantly surprised. If you like adventure games, then this is definitely one to put on your wishlist. I would nevertheless wait until all of the Land of Hope and Gorey has dropped so you can play it all at once and enjoy it best.
This review is based on a PC copy of Ghoul Britannia: Land of Hope and Gorey provided by Stride PR for coverage purposes.
