Prepare for Disappointment: Dollhouse’s Latest Horror Game Is a Total Flop!

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2019 saw the release of SOEDESCO’s game, Dollhouse, a chilling horror title influenced by film noir and offering a single-player campaign, skill tree, and online multiplayer. However, it seems that the game might have taken on more than it could handle, as its reception was less than favorable. In contrast to its predecessor, SOEDESCO’s new title, Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror, has simplified significantly. The absence of a skill tree and multiplayer features allows for a sharper focus on crafting a traditional survival horror experience. Regrettably, even with this more focused approach, Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror stands out as one of the poorest horror games ever produced.

In the game titled “Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror“, players assume the character of Eliza, a woman suffering from amnesia who is given experimental medication and left in a chilling rural area to recall her past. The narrative is delivered through laborious expositions by voice actors lacking interest, and the plot twists are predictable from the outset. The game attempts to emulate the Otherworld concept from “Silent Hill“, which can be accessed by players interacting with mirrors; however, this idea isn’t utilized effectively within the story or the game.

The narrative and visuals of “Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror” are disorganized, mirroring the game itself. Character designs appear outdated, with rigid movements, dull aesthetics, and peculiar inconsistencies such as eyelashes that don’t sync with blinking eyes. Textures are muddied, and the lighting is erratic, creating a confusing atmosphere. The game mistakenly assumes that a gloomy environment enhances scare factors, but in reality, it only adds to navigation difficulties. Light sources flicker, textures fail to load properly, players can pass through walls to peer inside buildings, trees and structures don’t always touch the ground, some rocks are transparent due to being incomplete, and more. In essence, the graphics of “Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror” are chaotic and unpolished.

Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror is a Broken Mess

The poorly rendered graphics of “Dollhouse: Through the Cracked Mirror” hint that the game is not fully completed, but the glitchy puzzles serve as a stark reminder. This game attempts to recreate the atmosphere of traditional survival horror games by having players explore eerie settings, gather keys, manage resources, and solve puzzles. However, the puzzles don’t always function correctly. For instance, in the second major area, you’re tasked with finding four doll heads that need to be arranged in a specific sequence on stakes. Despite arranging them correctly, the scene wouldn’t progress, allowing me to continue playing. After several attempts of picking up and placing the doll heads again, it eventually solved the issue.

In the game Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror, you’ll find similar puzzles that focus on order, but unfortunately, these puzzles seem to have issues and can be quite repetitive. My preferred puzzle was the one in the final significant area where you had to arrange four masks on mannequins in a specific sequence. It seems as though the developers may have neglected the challenge aspect of this game segment because the masks can only be placed correctly in Behind the Broken Mirror, making it more of a trial-and-error process until the correct sequence is found.

Experiencing an incorrect selection in a puzzle within the game “Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror” can be disconcerting. Unlike most survival horror games, it doesn’t inform the player when an item is invalid. Instead, it hides the inventory menu, leaving players gazing at the puzzle object. While the correct item to use in a puzzle is usually clearly indicated, misclicks can still lead to confusion. This seemingly intentional omission suggests that “Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror” may not be fully developed or could be of poor quality, as it’s unusual for such a design choice in a game.

In the game titled “Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror“, there are numerous instances where details could have been left unsaid for a more immersive experience. One such issue is that the objectives are clearly stated at the beginning of each level, which takes away from the exploration and organic discovery of the game’s environments. Instead of allowing players to uncover what they need to do to advance on their own, the game provides all the answers upfront. This diminishes any potential sense of discovery and surprise that the game might have offered, revealing the types of puzzles players will encounter and the new weapons they’ll come across.

In Behind the Broken Mirror, when players aren’t navigating dark environments or tackling trivial puzzles, they find themselves immersed in a repetitive and tedious combat system. The combat encounters are largely indistinguishable, with enemies that march straight at the player without much variation. These enemies may react to gunfire occasionally or not at all, eventually succumbing with no strategic consideration needed. The game offers various handguns, but their appearance is often similar, and their ammunition, though differing in type, lacks color-coding for easy identification. The only distinct colors you’ll find are blue, yellow, and two shades of red. Some guns also suffer from poor range, although this issue becomes less problematic once it’s understood that most enemies won’t follow the player through doors. Child-sized enemies will pursue the player, but larger ones remain stationary outside, waiting their turn to be shot down.

Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror is a Failure on All Fronts

In contrast to numerous survival horror games that create suspense by limiting resources, the game Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror takes a different approach by compelling players to interact with most enemies and providing them with an excessive amount of ammunition, leaving them puzzled about how to utilize it effectively. The game features a rudimentary crafting system for replenishing ammo, and it’s amusing (yet bothersome) how abundant the materials are. The issue arises because the ammo and crafting materials begin consuming too much inventory space.

Title Revamp: “Dollhouse: Beyond the Cracked Mirror” – A Critique

The combat in “Dollhouse: Beyond the Cracked Mirror” is disappointing, the graphics are unsightly, and the puzzles are overly simple yet riddled with glitches. However, if it succeeded in delivering genuine scares, some of these shortcomings might have been overlooked for the sake of a thrilling experience. Unfortunately, “Dollhouse: Beyond the Cracked Mirror” falls short on this aspect as well. The game is filled with random spooky sounds like creaking doors and unexpected footsteps, which lose their impact due to overuse. There’s also excessively loud music when enemies appear, which may startle players initially, but the effect wears off quickly.

During my playthrough of “Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror“, I expected a fleeting moment of fun when I arrived at the carnival stage. However, this level seemed more like a grim reminder amidst the game’s overall grimness. The carnival games require players to complete mini-tasks to win tickets, which can be used to advance or exchanged for additional weapons. Tasks include aiming rings at bowling pins, hurling skulls at targets, and tossing balls into clown heads. Initially, I couldn’t interact with any of these objects, forcing me to restart from the checkpoint. Once reloaded, the interactions worked smoothly, but controlling the carnival games was still a frustrating experience using a controller. Players must adjust their view, align the cursor with the target object, pull back on the stick, adjust the angle, and then throw. Each mini-game has a tight time limit, leaving little room for mistakes. One game offers a workaround for this, but overall, these games felt clunky and were perhaps better suited to mouse control.

Playing through Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror approximately lasted around 4.5 hours, and unfortunately, there seems to be little incentive for revisiting this game once completed due to its straightforward nature. However, achieving the coveted Platinum Trophy is certainly attainable, making it an appealing prospect for trophy collectors.

The game ‘Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror’ is a total letdown across the board, with its broken mechanics, unappealing aesthetics, lack of genuine horror elements, and overall being unenjoyable to play. Its storyline is poorly executed, and the gameplay feels like a pale imitation of ‘Resident Evil’ games. I’d strongly advise horror enthusiasts to steer clear of ‘Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror’.

Title “Dollhouse: Beyond the Cracked Mirror” Debuts on March 28 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X. For this review, Game Rant received a PS5 access code.

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2025-03-28 18:40