Hello Neighbor 3 Preview – LOTS OF NEIGHBOURS
If you’ve played any of the previous two games, Hello Neighbor 3 will have you scratching your head, wondering “what the fudgesicles is going on?” every 10 seconds.
Everyone’s Out to Get Ya
I’m not one to get scared by these types of games, but holy moley! The glitches and random jump scares were on another level here. You’d have neighbours gunning it through walls like they don’t exist, only to stop and stare like you’re suddenly prime LeBron. Then, just for a laugh, the game would boot you back 15 minutes because the code lost its ones and zeros. Ayyaaahhhh!
Now, you’ve probably realised how unstable this pre-alpha version is, but there are some genuinely cool moments too. For example: the active day/night cycle where the weather goes tropo, and NPCs just walkabout without darting towards ya like a heat-seeking missile… sometimes. Or how neighbours would literally drag you out of the building if you got caught, then throw you to the wolves in a daze for an easy kill. Even the gardening tools wanna ruin your day too. I shouldn’t be surprised at this point.
However, I noticed that if you can whip out a camera and get a decent enough shot off in time, your pursuer will be like
“Fair enough, mate!” and just let you go. This gives you precious seconds to get the heck outta there and not have to worry about wasting time repeating a lengthy (and annoying) chain of events.
The Real Break-In Simulator
Just like the two titles before it, Hello Neighbor 3 has you breaking into buildings to find various clues or MacGuffins, and the gameplay loop still remains solid. Whether you wanna smash your way through doors with a crowbar, hardcore-parkour onto the roof, or dodge, duck and dip past cameras to find security switches, there’s something oddly satisfying about sneakin’ into buildings. Even though the neighbour AI is mega busted at the moment, it still can be a fun time if you lean into it.
There’s rarely any story outside of a few notes and memos as well, yet the mystery gives you just enough breadcrumbs to keep things interesting before the full game drops. It’s not every day you have an evil lawnmower chasing you, after all. So for now, just look at Hello Neighbor 3 as one of those “let’s see what’s around this corner” moments, and you’ll most likely give it a decent nod of approval when it’s over.
By Anthony Culinas – Previewed on PC
Game by tinyBuild. The Beta Network uses affiliate partnerships, however, this does not influence reviews or any other content published. The Beta Network may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links that are on the website.
