#Assessment: House Security Hotline

Do you could have room in that mind of yours for some briefly helpful data? Do you wish to study concerning the family threats that go unseen? In that case, House Security Hotline has the job for you.

Initially launched earlier this yr, it’s now being launched on consoles. Being an OS sim, it’s at all times a bizarre match on a controller, however I wanted the excuse to circle again to it for evaluate, so I’ll take it.

House Security Hotline (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Swap [Reviewed])
Developer: Night time Sign Leisure
Writer: Torture Star Video
Launched: September 20, 2024
MSRP: $19.99

House Security Hotline has you logging in for the primary time as an worker of the titular firm. The corporate gives data and assist for residence house owners, giving them help in occasions of want, whether or not that’s as a result of they’ve cockroaches or their home is on fireplace.

You’re given an inventory of frequent issues and take calls from shoppers. They’ll provide you with an outline of the difficulty they’re having, and you should establish what’s happening and supply them with the proper data by merely deciding on it. It progresses via the times of the week, and every day gives your listing with extra issues. You could be as correct as doable, in any other case you’ll be fired.

Whereas this begins off with mundane issues like black mould, supernatural encounters start creeping in. Issues get weirder and weirder as you go. You’ll nonetheless get the odd individual calling in about one thing like termites simply to throw you off, however typically, they’ve been referred to you since you’re the specialists in coping with the supernatural. On this, House Security Hotline walks the road of horror and humor.

It’s a quite simple, easy idea. You merely get an outline and choose the reply. For House Security Hotline, it’s all within the presentation. It’s offered like a Home windows 95 program, with the date studying 1996. It’s not precisely analog horror, but it surely’s the identical concept.

The calls run the gamut. You get prospects who had a foul expertise beforehand and are actually irate, ones who’re confused that they had been informed to name you, after which there are some which might be tragic. “How do you inform somebody their canine is useless?” my husband requested me as he watched over my shoulder. “By e-mail,” I replied.

However the shoppers could be deceptive. Whereas for some, the reply is clear, others will intentionally comprise data to throw you off. There are additionally moments the place your database has technical difficulties, and you’ll’t double-check data in a doable reply. If you happen to get one flawed, you aren’t instantly notified, even when that was your final probability. It comes a couple of calls later, the place you’ll be reprimanded by your supervisor or contacted by a now-pissed, unhappy buyer. It might simply be a quiz ultimately, however these are the small ways in which House Security Hotline retains issues compelling.

The draw back to that is that the calls are at all times the identical, and at all times in the identical order. So far as I do know, there are not any random components to the principle story mode. If you happen to get fired, you simply repeat that day over, so it’s simply listening to the identical calls and adjusting your solutions to lastly make the grade. There’s no replay worth in that sense, however among the issues that get unlocked after finishing it make up for this.

My foremost problem with House Security Hotline is that it simply doesn’t really feel optimum on console. With its OS interface and scroll bars, it was made with mouse controls in thoughts. Capabilities on the display are mapped to buttons, so it really works fairly properly, but it surely loses a few of its genuine really feel. Scrolling, specifically, type of sucks. 

To get via lots of menus, you simply use the d-pad to scroll, but it surely strikes one press at a time. If you wish to get from the highest to the underside of the listing, you’ll be able to solely get there by urgent down again and again. There are additionally seen issues with scrolling via menus. The data pane jumps the primary time it hits the underside of the seen space, and as soon as your e-mail inbox fills up, it gained’t scroll all the way down to no matter’s off-screen. I spoke to Mr. Pet Combo (head honcho of Torture Star Video, the writer), and he let me know {that a} patch is on the way in which, however whether or not or not it should repair these points, I can’t verify.

It’s not the tip of the world, but it surely did hassle me. For anybody who solely has the choice of enjoying it on console or just needs a Swap model they will play on the bathroom, then it suits that want.

Other than that, I loved House Security Hotline. The principle story runs at 2-3 hours, but it surely additionally consists of its first DLC, Seasonal Employee, which provides 60-90 minutes of runtime. Alongside that, there are some neat bonuses when you end. In truth, I’m undecided the idea may get a lot farther than that, so it’s good that it doesn’t overstay its welcome and as an alternative simply gives additional for those who haven’t had your fill.

I’m positive I’ve stated this a number of occasions, however it’s a quite simple premise that boils all the way down to a quiz with related analysis, but it surely presents it with love and pizzazz. It’s very a lot higher than the sum of its components. With its mixture of the bizarre and mundane, it has a profitable persona. It most likely gained’t blow you away, and the console model is probably not probably the most optimum option to play it, but it surely’s an gratifying day job.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}