“Bad days happen to everyone, but when one happens to you, just keep doing your best and never let a bad day make you feel bad about yourself.” — Big Bird
Overview
My Friendly Neighborhood is a quirky survival horror in which repairman Gordon must fend off puppets in a bid to stop a Saturday morning kid’s show from broadcasting. The game was developed by brothers John (creator of Kyle is Famous) and Evan Szymanski.
Developer: John Szymanski, Evan Szymanski
Released: 18th July 2023
Price: £24.99
Narrative
The game begins with Gordon, a repairman, being tasked with shutting off an antenna atop a tall building in order to halt the broadcasting of My Friendly Neighborhood, a formally popular Saturday morning children’s TV show. As he makes his way through several locations in order to do so he encounters several puppets, including a sock puppet called Ricky that acts as something of a guide, that have the potential to change the context of his task. There are also a number of news articles to be found alluding to a war in which Gordon partook, adding some loose social context and backstory for the protagonist.
Gameplay
My Friendly Neighborhood plays very much like a classic survival horror, and clearly takes inspiration from more old-school Resident Evil titles. It also draws on mascot horror games, but does so with more finesse than certain other titles in the genre. The game sees the protagonist Gordon traversing several areas, such as offices, sewers, a hotel, studio areas, and a park in order to reach the end goal of the antenna, all while repelling troublesome puppets and solving puzzles. Puppets cannot be killed but instead will be put out of action until Gordon revisits their room, at which point they will have reanimated. Tape can be found and used to permanently disable individual puppets.
The puppets will attack, causing damage, and Gordon can be hit up to 4 times before dying. There are very few autosave and mostly this must be done from safe rooms at the cost of one coin. A full heal can also be bought in the safe room for the same price, or health-o-lax can be found and taken for a partial heal. If the player does need to reload, any previously heard dialogue cannot be skipped which can be a little frustrating. Maps must also be found before they can be accessed, but once obtained will show doors, locked and openable, as well as whether a room is complete.
There are no sprint, crouch, or jump abilities which is a little jarring at first, however, chocolate bars can be found as used for a temporary speed boost. Gordon has limited inventory space, this becomes increasingly tricky to manage as the game progresses and different weapons and ammo are found. However, items can be stashed in two separate toolboxes that can be found in the safe rooms, though it is worth noting that the second box is only available in certain locations.
There are a variety of different areas to be explored, each with its own main enemy obstacle such as Pearl (inspired by Sesame Street’s big bird) who blindly roams Stage 4, and Ray the grumpy handyman who resides in the sewers. It is possible to help each of these characters in some way and these decisions will affect the ending of the game. There are also a number of puzzles to solve throughout the game, these are not optional, but essential to progress and require logic, observation, maths skills, and inventory items amongst other things. They are generally not too difficult but provide enough of a challenge to be both interesting and satisfying.
Styling
My Friendly Neighborhood uses a simple 3D art style, it has a good amount of texture and detail but doesn’t offer anything unique or stylised. The blend of vibrant colourful aspects with high contrast, shadows, and general darkness, however, suits the style and themes of the game perfectly.
The soundtrack features a range of upbeat, dramatic, eerie, and energetic songs, depending on the scene and events. The main theme, sung by children, is a particular highlight and really helps set the overall tone of the game. The sound effects are well implemented and often quite creepy, adding to the horror aspects. The puppets, though cute and friendly at first glance but torment Gordon are also incredibly vocal, though their endless chatter, whilst often entertaining, can get a little repetitive at times.
Summary
My Friendly Neighborhood draws on a wealth of inspiration but maintains originality primarily rooted in its narrative, characters, themes, and styling. The classic survival horror elements are implemented well, and the experience as a whole elevates the often asset-flipped mascot horror genre. The puzzles are engaging and the combat whilst a little repetitive, is satisfying overall, with some variety afforded to it by the range of weapons that can be obtained. The characters and narrative are quirky and do a good job of holding the player’s interest, subtle choices and decisions (and some not so subtle) will determine the course of the game and how it will ultimately end, resulting in some replayability. It will take around 6-8 hours to complete and is a lot of fun, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to survival horror fans.
Looking for more survival horror? You may enjoy these reviews:
Vlad Circus: Descend into Madness – Disturbing New Survival Horror Game – The Outlast Trials – A Disturbing Psychological Survival Horror – The Backrooms 1998 – Found Footage Survival Horror Game
