For the sake of transparency, I want to say that I did work on Heartworm, so of course I am going to recommend that you play it! I was a co-writer, and did a tiny bit of early concept art, and voiced Sam. I won't recommend the game based on parts of the game that I worked on lol. First, I think that the team nailed the aesthetic style of the game. Whether you prefer to play with retro filters or not, I think you're in for a visual treat. There is enough variance in environments that every area you enter feels fresh, but nostalgic. Michael and Vincent were able to throw in occasional visual callbacks to the classic RE and SH games that they love so much, but bring something new to them. To go with the aesthetic style of the game, the music really completes the ambiance. Carlos helped Vincent with sound design, and Michael assisted with the end credits song, and the majority of the soundtrack was created by Vincent. While some areas have a dread-inducing score, you will find brevity in places you would not expect with more low-key, dramatic and melancholy tracks. I also really admire how well the puzzles were integrated into the world of the game. When you need to back-track in certain areas to complete a puzzle, you can find shortcuts, and the map is super useful too. The variety of the puzzle types is something I really appreciate. There's plenty of classic puzzle stuff, but I think there are a few really cleverly designed puzzles that will feel like a breath of fresh air to survival horror fans. Combat for me is tough to review, because it is why I generally avoid playing survival horror games. I will say that all the enemies have interesting designs and mechanics, and fit well in the aesthetic of the game, and thank goodness you can run from most of them, because that's what I did while I was playing hahaha. I was tense as heck when playing. Also, in terms of the boss fights, the spider one is my favorite by far. Thank you to everyone who has supported Heartworm over the years. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to work on the game, and I really hope you enjoy your playthroughs.

i hate to be mean about this because there's not that much really wrong with Heartworm but there's not much Right with it either, it's just a bit plain? It looks pretty good, controls pretty good and sounds pretty good but there's just kind of no spice to it. Part of this is that the game is easy to point of being not very engaging and part of it is that the narrative is pretty vague and feels a little listless and thus a bit hard to connect with? I could nitpick small things like how when you are prompted to discard keys after using them the prompt defaults to "No" for some reason which makes it very easy to accidentally retain useless keys, even though many items automatically discard themselves on use with no prompt anyway? The environments are kind of weirdly massive but not very dense resulting in a lot of time spent walking through empty space to get to points of interest. But the petty problems aren't what holds Heartworm back anyway, it's just missing something. Some spice, some unique mechanic, just anything to liven things up a little.

An easy rec for classic survival horror fans. I played the game with modern controls and it has an over the shoulder aiming option. You can also play with full on tank controls if you enjoy that. It might honestly fit the game better but I had no issues either way. The game is almost cozy tbh, as your character 'Sam' finds herself going through her old home and other places of her life. Some of these are quite colorful, like a pretty forest her grandfather would take her for walks. But overall the game looks beautiful and charming. I often found myself going into aim mode just to look at things up close. Music is also always very fitting and pretty. Although the audio mixing with the game compared to the cutscenes can be a bit weird sometimes, I changed and lowered some of my sound settings for the gameplay, I just think these did not apply to the cutscenes which made them loud. The game is...not really challenging. You find an inventory upgrade pretty early on and I was never out of healing items or ammo. It was very rare when I couldn't pick up more items and this was usually only because my bag was full of healing and I only found more healing lol Most enemies pose no threat at all and usually just get stunlocked for a bit when you flash them with your camera. The puzzles are fun and well designed, they require some logical thinking and I had some "ah-ha" moments while wandering around sometimes. Quite rewarding. Do be prepared to have a notepad around because quite a few puzzles just have you remembering words or placements. I had to take photos of my screen sometimes to know the order of things. This can be good or bad depending on what you are into. I will say there is a sliding block puzzle in 1 of the final areas. I despise these and I wish it wasn't in the game. You go around an area to put certain words to numbers. Like moon = 1 , book = 2 etc. A total of 11. So you need to have your notebook to note these down, then you have to put them in order in a randomized sliding puzzle. I put mine in one of those puzzle solvers and the fastest solution was 88 moves at some point if you did everything perfect. Really????? I just went alt f4 here to come back later and have it generate me a different one. Skill issue perhaps. The writing was good and Sam is a cool character, I enjoyed reading the journals and notes of different people scattered around the place and Sam having thoughts about the areas we found ourselves in. I liked learning more about her. Overall a fun 5-7 hour experience with lots of heart(worm). A little more relaxing than a lot of other survival horror games with combat and enemies not having that much focus. Fantastic atmosphere, interesting story, decent puzzles. Just check it out if you're into the genre.

The true dangers of trusting information you find on random internet forums.

It sucks to say, as this game was one i've been looking forward to for a while, but this is barely a positive review. The issue boils down to the difficulty, I can understand and even appreciate devs wanting their games to be on the easier side of things, nothing wrong there. It's another thing to make it so easy that enemies don't feel in any way threatening, missing feels meaningless as the amount of ammo you get is probably about twice what you need to kill everything in the game and you just get way way way way too many health items, especially considering that avoiding attacks is really easy. The issue here is that this easy, this lack of tension, of threat, of needing to put in any effort whatsoever kills the atmosphere and immersion, combat as is feels tedious, you're basically immortal and enemies take a while to kill, as is the game would be better off without combat. I do still want to congratulate the team on creating what could be the basis for an incredible game but it badly requires rebalancing/difficulty options. Having some added complexity to enemy behaviour and the combat as a whole would help as well but I wouldn't except that to be changed in a released game.

In Resident Evil, the limited inventory space and the cramped hallways with enemies mean that whenever you need to go somewhere, you need to decide whether to use your sparse amount of ammo on killing enemies, or to take the chance on running past them. If you run past them, you might get some stray hits and end up using your limited healing, and then what if you took a wrong turn or brought the wrong item and need to run past the same enemies again? On the other hand, what if you waste ammo on weak enemies and softlock yourself against a sudden boss? Inventory management, resource management, and planning are key in old-school survival horrors and it's why the handicap of the small inventory and the mechanics of the item box in RE works so well. In Heartworm they add nothing. You get one type of ammo, one type of healing, and you not only get more of it than you'll ever need, you'll never even risk running out of inventory space because you realistically only ever need to bring your weapon and ammo, leaving 4-6 empty spots for whatever you find. And the enemies are not some imposing and nerve wracking obstacles between you and your goal, they're mostly just trivial nuisances that you can either just run right past or remove permanently to little cost nor danger to yourself. Heartworm does indeed wear its influences on its sleeve, but those influences are only skin deep. At one point you find a stairway taken straight out of RE1, with the same layout and everything, but it doesn't add anything to the design of the level you find it in. And it doesn't take just take underutilised gameplay mechanics from RE; like in Project Zero/Fatal Frame you use a camera as a weapon, but in FF you need to wait for the enemies to come closer before shooting to maxmize your damage. This is incredibly tense not just because of the dangers to your character's health and your own in-game progress this poses, but because the enemies are designed to be terrifying. In Heartworm the enemies are not only not scary, but you never need to let the enemy near enough for them to pose a danger. And the plot, concerning grief, the death of a loved one, and even just uncertainty about how one is wasting ones life in an office, too afraid to do anything, mostly comes across as rather trite. The game's insights into the human condition are relatable, sure; we all experience loss, we all agonise over what path to take in life, etc, but the insights are ultimately shallow, underutilised, and not treated with much subtlety. In games like Silent Hill those themes come out as distorted physical metaphors and dangerous and horrifying enemies, and while you could argue the static screen and wooden doll versions of the MC that you have to fight are metaphors for her own inner turmoil and her lacking feeling of agency, those are the only enemies that seem to have any relation to the plot. And even then they still suffer from the same shallowness I described earlier. In the end, the game does do a good job of catching the artistic and atmospheric vibes of the survival horrors of old, and if it had advertised itself as a sort of 90's nostalgic tank-controlled action-adventure, I'd probably be kinder in my review. But a survival horror game with neither the survival nor the horror inevitably becomes a wholly disappointing experience.

Silent Hill for goth people

Classic survival horror with great vibes AND opossums. Truly a game that's out for my heart.

However you slice it, Heartworm's creators have done their homework. The game nods to Resident Evil 1, Silent Hill 1, etc., and while it has picked up some of the best parts of these PS1 classics, the team has made Heartworm wholly its own thing. It improves upon and leaves its own mark on the survival horror genre, standing strong on its own two feet. With a captivating story, lovable characters and environmental storytelling, along with exciting gameplay (and suitable scares!), I really enjoyed my time with the game. It also retains the emphasis on resource management and exploration that's key to a great survival horror title. Play it, play it, play it.

I like the atmosphere, but I hate the terrible camera angles, bad controls, limited inventory, and the poor checkpoint system. I know it's trying to. be retro, but if that includes repeating all the poor gameplay decisions from early PS2 times, it's just not fun.

Take the camera combat mode from Fatal Frame series, Add the atmosphere of the Silent Hill series, (with some neon lights and purple haze instead of rusty fog) Throw in some puzzles like the early Resident Evil games, (keys, clocks, piano puzzles, emblems) Mix it all up and VOILA! you have Heartworm. Heartworm is a love letter to retro PS1 survival horror games. Even though it borrows heavily from the greats as mentioned above, it manages to carve out its own niche due to the fact that the art style and story are 100% original. The developers are adamant they do not use AI in any of their assets, music, or spoken dialog, which is a huge bonus. Heartworm took me 5.5 hours to complete my first playthrough. + First off, the music in this game is incredible. Each area has its own original unique beautiful music. Most of the tracks are hauntingly melancholic, which suits the story perfectly. + The sound effects are also amazing. I especially loved shooting the statues in the second chapter and hearing the screams as they fall apart. The static enemies also let off some hauntingly eerie noises when defeated. There are some great uses of soundstage effects that sound as if they are in the foreground, behind you, or behind other sounds, on the headphones. + The voice actress of the main character nailed her part, some of the best I've heard in awhile. Unforgettable. + The bosses in this game are well designed. The 2nd and 3rd chapter bosses are gorgeous. + The graphics are PS1 style, but they are extra crispy and beautiful if you run the game on 4K without the pixelation on. + The story is original and interesting. There are 3 endings to the game. All of the cutscenes are beautifully artistic and gorgeous. + Crazy outfits and costumes to unlock upon beating the game and finding certain secrets. + Fun Easter Egg references to old school RE games. - There is a sliding puzzle in this game. Everyone hates sliding puzzles and supposedly there is a big movement of people trying to get developers not to put these puzzles in games. Usually super annoying, the puzzle in this game is only mildly annoying... - Due to the fact that that this game is dreamlike, it is very easy to get lost. The landscapes do not make sense at all. Library leads to clock tower leads to garden leads to strange purple walkway leads back to foyer....you get the drift. Add in all the weird camera angles and its a bit headache inducing at times. - The combat in this game is too simple, and the "Modern Mode" of combat is a bit janky while you aim. The enemies are a bit too easy to kill, the game would welcome a hard mode. (I believe the developer mentioned hard mode will be included in the future) This game borrows from the best but holds its own identity high in the spotlight. Artistic and Quality. Prioritizes story and atmosphere over combat. Overall 8.5/10

I give Resident Evil : Heartworm a 4/5 I have had this game on my wishlist for around a year i think, and when it came out, i bought it instantly. I had been very hyped since i first saw it on steam, as the screenshots and the trailer made it look like a classic PS1/VHS style horror game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We will start with what i enjoyed; After playing the game i will say that it lived up to some of the hype, the graphics were very cool, the music and atmosphere were nice, and the survival horror genre is hard to mess up. My favourite thing about Heartworm is the puzzles, it really is like resident evil, and i felt smart after figuring some of them out, none of them felt too obscure or were too easy, it was well designed. I very much liked the creature designs, especially the bosses (yes there are bosses), and the animations were decent for a game of this quality, it was very pleasing to watch and look at, for me at least, as i appreciate retro animation and graphics very much. The gameplay was solid, i didnt experience many bugs or glitches, and i beat the game without needing a guide, in about 4-5 hours. I like the ability to change from modern controls to tank controls, although you usually end up using tank anyway, because the camera changes make modern movement difficult. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- However, the reason it gets a 4/5 instead of a 5/5 is mainly because the story was unfortunately a weak link, and this is largely because of the character of Sam. I think it the story could be polished a little to make a bit more sense, or be a bit more coherent, there were points in the game where i was confused as to what was going on, that probably just need something else to link it up. Without spoiling too much, Sam is not a great mc, she reminds me very much of Bella from twilight, as she comes off as kind of a "Poser" emo girl who says a lot of seemingly cryptic stuff to sound damaged and cool, but when you actually break down what she just said, it makes not much sense. One of the lines was something like "There are thousands of ways to be killed, but only one way to be born" what does she mean by this? how does it relate to the story? She also tends to juxtapose a few times, in the beginning she states that she is fascinated with death, obsessed with it, and cant stop thinking about it, but then later says that she stopped coming to a beloved park because she saw a dead deer there one time. She also seems very at peace with the fact that she might not return from this adventure, and has left everything behind, but then 15 minutes in she is begging for a way to get back home. I cant quite tell what type of person she is. And this is especially difficult due to the voice acting being very monotone and emotionless. Sam doesn't express very much at all, and so i find it hard to tell what emotion she is feeling, she also has the same facial expression the whole game due to her model, and so it is hard to relate to her, or understand her feelings. By the end of the game, i understood that it is a story about grief, and dealing with losing a loved one, but i did not feel like i could relate to Sam at all. There were a few other issues with the game, such as the enemies being too easy as you can stunlock them, and the game itself not doing very much original with its mechanics or gameplay features, but it would be very nitpicky, and it did not effect my experience very much. I hope that this review makes sense, and that maybe the developer sees it, as i am very excited to see what they make in the future. I hope that heartworm is successful and that they can continue to make more games, as i am a fan so far. I had a fun time while playing, it is a very relaxing game, and if you sit in a dark room, play it slowly, and feel the atmosphere the game gives off, you will probably have a fun time too, so i recommend this game.

The only strengths I could commend this game having are its atmosphere and music. Beyond that it feels very flawed and a majority of gameplay is spent walking. It says I have 4 hours in-game, but my first run was about 2.8 hours and about only 30 minutes was spent doing anything other than walking. It was an unenjoyable game that I would have preferred having no combat or puzzles to begin with. The combat does fortunately have two controls- either over the shoulder (OTS) or tank- but the issue is that if you use OTS then you will be actively fighting the nauseating camera's movements to figure out where you are and where you're moving. The benefit though is that you get a red circle showing when an enemy can be injured by your photos. Tank has no benefits except it's easy to control and you don't fight the camera to know where you are. Bosses are a joke, enemies can all be outrun or you can walk through/around, and there aren't really any "puzzles" that involve the camera either. The story itself was decent. I really appreciate the ending I received and how it added more context and flavor to the main character, the world, and a certain someone in one compact and good cutscene. The allegory and themes of death, grief, and acceptance are well done and are sprinkled throughout the story too and it's more than obvious so it's not a spoiler that you'll be dealing with common topics in comparison to other titles in this field. I can see the Silent Hill and Resident Evil inspiration, but it doesn't feel like it sets itself apart strong enough with its symbolism, puzzles, and powerful imagery. The warning about the game being "graphic" feels tacked on, either as a silly nod to Silent Hill or because of the presence of "strong horror elements" which it lacks. There was one meta puzzle that questions the player/character that I genuinely thought was a good addition and strong because of how it contextualizes the character's inner thoughts, trauma, and grief. That and a certain thing involving candles were the only two puzzles that I felt were memorable. This is a minor, personal, nitpick. When it comes to writing notes in horror games they need to sound convincing, as if they are being written by someone within the world and living out whatever events they are currently in. Heartworm lacks this and a fair amount of notes and journals are written far too meticulously detailed with diction that doesn't fit something that would be written organically. Simply: The notes feel written by a game developer and not a character that exists within the game. It happens, but it takes me out of the game because it's just too jarring of a disconnect. That's kind of it. Very short game, too much walking, and it felt like the gameplay was getting in the middle of me trying to enjoy the art direction and atmosphere. There really was only... one or two good designed puzzles, while everything else was mediocre to as (this is me being nitpicky, I have a vendetta against these) a randomized sliding puzzle. Good luck to speedrunners if they struggle with that. I don't feel interested enough to get the two other endings now that I got the best outcome. I really can't sit and enjoy slamming the character's face against walls as I run around for another two hours or less.

I like the atmosphere, and music for the most part of this game. While I usually enjoy Survival horror games this one I just found asinine with how tedious it was trying to find where I needed to go. The way enemies can't really be dealt with, the few times I got punished for exploring a corner only for these shambling enemies to get behind me and I have to waste film because I don't have a choice. The first real "boss" music and mechanics are just tedious and rather stupid as the amount of film it used to beat. I just can't really in good conscience recommend this game unless you're really a survival horror fan and just want a new game to play in that genre.

This game is straight gas! Word on my mother!

I cannot recommend this game enough. This is THE perfect callback to the original Resident Evil and Silent Hill, mixed with the Fatal Frame technique with a camera as your means of defense. The atmosphere was great, soundtrack was incredible and very fitting, combat was clunky but honestly it wasn't that bad and added to the overall charm of this game. Wonderful voice acting from the main character, Sam, as well. Made her feel relatable or like she was a friend. The story was great as well. Makes you think and I love that. Though the inspiration drawn from retro/PS1 horror is there, Heartworm stands on its own with its uniqueness and stands out. Infinity out of 10 on this one.

Great Retro Survival Horror title.

That's more neutral than a negative review. The technical side of the game is good - graphics, art direction, music. But the story is simplistic, full of cliches and cringe. Poems and the protagonist's monologues are the worst. I'll finish the game, but I don't think I'll change my review to positive. I do understand it's a first work of a single dev and it's something great to achieve. Keep working on your games, study, take the feedback from the people you respect and your next game will truly be something! I tried to make my game for a few times in the last 15 years and didn't succeed, so I applaud to you sir!

Great Silent Hill - Fatal Frame style classic survival horror game :)

Right off the bat, Heartworm nails the psx horror game vibe with elements of Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Fatal Frame all thrown into the mix. Classic tank controls and inventory management are complimented with ammo scarcity and carefully avoidable enemies, which harken back to the monster filled streets of Silent Hill or the zombie infested corridors of RE's mansions. Combat requires the user to snap photos of strange, TV static enemies. Be on the lookout for film, keys, and ingredients to make medkits. One of my favorite touches is that, rather than having a flashlight, you can use the flash on your camera without snapping a photo. This briefly illuminates the darkness but it's enough to get an idea of your surroundings and creates tension in the moments before you fire it off. There are various puzzles, from navigating mazes, to pushing buttons in the right order, to setting a clock to the right time. Many of these can be solved with information found in the various notes littered throughout the game. But I found reading the notes worthwhile even without the reward of a code or clue. The lore they build is very cool! The game has a maudlin tone about it, playing with the retro nature of the game itself by having a protagonist who is dwelling in the past. Themes of mortality, loss, and grief may be upsetting to some but they didn't bother me. Additionally, I couldn't help an overwhelming focus on the arts. This game features photography, painting, poetry, and music heavily. The title screen is an actual oil painting! I was impressed and will continue playing all the way through, as I'm enjoying myself thoroughly.

I know this is horror, but this game has such cozy atmosphere.

ca pue

Damn good game. Easy recommend if you enjoy horror or a good story. The music slaps as well, all around incredibly solid game.

This game is like Resindent Evil/Silent Hill meets Life is Strange. It has RE/SH mechanics but the heroine is teenage girl with camera exploring her inner nightmares and looking for her lost mom. So far I played only 3 hours but i like it.