There was a time when the sub £5 price point for new indie releases was something to be wary of, but over the past few years that stance has arguably changed somewhat, with the well-regarded likes of Vampire Survivors and Among Us available for less than a fiver. Or the current price of a Tesco Meal Deal, if you happen to live in the UK.
Knowing that some £5 indies turn out to be surprisingly great (I recently championed Curse Rounds’ virtues), I went into pixel art horror Ash Pines: The Motel reasonably optimistic. Then thirty minutes and one cliffhanger ending later, the realisation hit. Charging any more than £4.99 for this would’ve come across as disingenuous.
Ash Pines: The Motel is viewed from a top-down perspective and sees the latest guest arrive at the titular motel. Heading into the reception, they find nobody to greet them. In fact, the whole place seems deserted. By searching the environments, notebooks can be found that gradually piece together what’s going on. There’s a killer on the loose – a horned creature linked to a nearby research lab – and to escape the motel’s compound you’ll need to gather items and search for clues. Read every notebook and you’ll learn what happened to the other guests, too.
While this may sound like a typical set-up for a horror game, Ash Pines features only a handful of locations. Specifically: the motel with its reception area and outdoor pool, a trio of guest rooms, and the underground maintenance area. Upon finding an item, it’s pretty obvious where it needs to be used, and there’s little in the way of puzzle solving. That’s unless you happen to count using a lighter on a fireplace as a puzzle. Item descriptions are as plain as can be; notebook entries fair a little better. Our floppy haired hero meanwhile is a bit of a blank slate, aside from being notably upbeat considering their current situation.
In lieu of puzzles, or anything resembling a combat system, there’s the aforementioned horned beast to avoid. They appear at random and will dash towards your location, giving just a couple of seconds to back into the door you’ve just exited from. All you can do is hope that they aren’t there upon returning. This simple process doesn’t amount to anything more than pressing the ‘A’ button upon seeing the monster, as you’re always stood next to a door when entering or exiting a location. The monster’s cackle is quite haunting though, and their design is one of the more memorable moments.
After ferrying around items from room to room, finally finding the key for the last unopened guest room in the process, the story ends with a ‘to be continued’ cliffhanger despite nothing to suggest that this is a prologue or part of an episodic story. I fail to think of any other game in recent times with a less satisfying conclusion. Or even a complete lack thereof.
While calling it an ugly game wouldn’t be fair, it’s worth noting that only the main motel block is full screen – all other locations are small and boxy with a lot of dead space, and the chunky pixel art used doesn’t allow for much detail. Initially I thought the lack of music was fitting, with the hero’s footsteps and optional radio static helping to create an atmosphere, but this soon wore thin and ultimately failed to draw me into the experience.
I was ready to end this review by saying that “you get what you pay for” with Ash Pines: The Motel, but that would go against the opening paragraph – and it’s also one of the reasons that makes it all the more disappointing, as we’ve had a few great £5 indies lately. The takeaway is that it took me longer to write this review than it did to play through it, and the only thing to show for my time is a dozen effortlessly gained achievements. Save up an extra tenner and buy either Five Nights at Freddy’s: Into the Pit or Dead of Darkness instead.
Ash Pines: The Motel is out now on consoles. Published by Ratalaika Games.