2019-06-01_PC_Gamer

(singke) #1

T


heWildWestisahardplace.An
unnamedboy,onlycalledElHijo,hasto
learnthislessonatjustnineyearsold
whenbanditsdestroyhishomeandhis
mother‘sfarm.Leftwithnowaytocareforher
son,thewomanleaveshimatamonastery.

happily hang as art on my wall. The careful
play between light and shadow doesn’t
just look incredibly good, it’s also vital to
you getting around undetected. As long as
you stick to the shadows and don’t get too
close to an adult, they can look right in
your direction but won’t see you.

True Kid
The setting isn’t arbitrary. El Hijo’s
developer Jiannis Sotiropoulos was
inspired by El Topo, a 1970 acid western in
which a young boy named Hijo gets left
behind by his father in a similar fashion.
Despite what games may often suggest,
harsh conditions don’t immediately turn
children into adults – in El Hijo, the boy
gets to be a boy for a little while longer,
including all the puddle splashing and

sweet pinching that entails. This isn’t a
childish game – it’s stealth mechanics are
on par with any other title of the genre –
but it carries the spirit of a good time
thanks to environments bathed in sunlight
and knobbly cowboys and monks that
don’t appear half as threatening to me as
they do to El Hijo.
El Hijo is completely non-violent. You
can hide behind large objects, in vases, in
laundry baskets, behind curtains, you
name it. In the demo I played, there was
always a nice little ‘aha’ effect as I
discovered how to make use of new hiding
spots. You can take different paths or
sometimes avoid hiding altogether if
you’re quick enough. When things get
particularly crowded, there’s also the
option to throw a previously collected
stone or even a toy. Thanks to plenty of
save points, getting caught never
becomes unduly punishing. Wanting to
explore a new environment or part of the
level just to see what it will look like and
what obstacles wait for you is a major
driving factor that made my time with El
Hijo pass very quickly.
Malindy Hetfeld

it’s stealth
mechanics are on
par with any other
title of the genre

played
it

The longest game of


hide and seek ever


EL HIJO


Of course El Hijo objects to being left like
that, and promptly plots his escape. The
task is seemingly simple – get out of this
strange place and back with your mother.
However, a monastery in the middle of
nowhere seems huge to a child, and this
one is also particularly well-staffed. The
only way is the quiet one.
El Hijo takes place in three
environments: the monastery, a saloon
and the desert between them. It’s a
seemingly short journey, but each of these
settings is divided into ten levels. The
longer I look around in each, the more
there is to see. The levels look like toy
boxes, self-contained wonderlands I would

ElHijo


PREVIEW


RELEASE
TBA

DEVELoPER
Honig Studios

PubLIShER
Handygames

LINK
http://www.elhijogame.com

need to know

You can sneak away while the
adults shoot each other.
Free download pdf