At What Age Does Sleep Become Something We Enjoy?

Back when I thought that sleep was the work of the devil, I would regularly be up at 6am to watch Sesame Street before heading to school. Nowadays, I only see 6am when I get out of bed for a wee, or if awaken from a night terror. 

Ironically then, that My Friendly Neighborhood is a horror game capable of inducing scares that just so happens to be heavily inspired by the likes of Sesame Street. And there is just one person capable of taking on this latest offering of mascot horror: Me, it’s me.

At first glance, My Friendly Neighborhood looks to follow the latest trend in horror alongside the likes of Poppy Playtime, Garten of Banban and Finding Frankie. That of seemingly friendly cartoonish critters terrorising you. But My Friendly Neighborhood takes a giant dose of inspiration from elsewhere, successfully separating itself from its mascot horror brethren and creating something familiar and unique at the same time.

Everybody Needs Good Neighbours

You play as handyman Gordon, whose last job of the day is to turn off the broadcasting tower that has been interfering with people’s TV sets. In a world where sentient puppets exist, My Friendly Neighborhood has been off the air for some time now, but this TV interference suggests that there are some suspicious goings on where this once famous TV show was filmed.

Gordon simply has to get to the top of the building and turn off the broadcast. However, his path is blocked almost immediately by the elevator clogged up with jam. A “helpful” sock puppet by the name of Ricky explains to him that if he wants to get to the tower, there are a few things he needs to do first.

By a few things, he means to travel around the facility avoiding puppets who are a bit too keen to give you a hug, solve a variety of puzzles and help out several other puppets with their issues. My Friendly Neighborhood looks like a mascot horror on the surface, but it plays much more like another survival horror staple: Resident Evil.

My Resident Friendly Neighborhood Evil

The puppets here are the zombies, who as soon as you pique their interest, will come shambling towards you. The puzzles seem tricky at first, but that’s just because you don’t have the necessary item or key to proceed. And further to that, there is a dollop of inventory management, but if you played Save Room, you’ll be well versed in what to do here.

Weapons can also be found to put the puppets down, temporarily at least. A wrench and a pistol are given to you; more powerful weapons will need to be found. Amusingly, bullets fired from the pistol are actually letters. The same letters that the residents of My Friendly Neighborhood will probably have taught you about when the show was on air.

Not so amusingly though, is the lack of a crosshair on screen. At least at first, for there is an option to turn one on in the Camera options but don’t do what I did and play through the entire game without realising this. There are times when having a reticule really does come in handy: one point in particular concerns a boss where you have to shoot the eyes. Another Resident Evil staple.

As well as the standard puppets, most areas have a unique type of puppet as well. These will also cause you harm if you get too near, but there is also a way to help them, and in turn, remove them as an enemy. And like the puzzles that help you progress, it isn’t immediately obvious – in a good way – how to help them out. Your best bet is to just explore and utilise the map to your advantage. If a room is red on the map, there is something else to discover; if it goes green, you’re free to move on.

A Neighbourhood You Won’t Want To Leave

Exploring also rewards future playthroughs with some cheat codes in the form of VHS tapes. These can be found on your initial playthrough, but will only unlock on subsequent ones. All the standard ones are here: infinite health and ammo etc. etc. plus some humorous ones too, like changing the dialogue to chicken bawks. How long you can stand it though depends on your stamina.

You also unlock a horde mode after your first completion, which again, feels very Resident Evil. With additional characters to unlock, each with their own style, there is a bit more to this than just a tacked-on mode. But it can get repetitive if you are going for the full completion.

There are those that would look at My Friendly Neighborhood having a PEGI 7 rating and think that it looks like a My First Resident Evil game, but that is doing it a disservice. There is a very well told story here, that goes way beyond being a simple riff on Sesame Street. It becomes almost a social commentary towards the end, and whilst not exactly what the game will be remembered for, it still deserves a special mention.

A Huggable Horror That Honours its Inspirations

That rating also doesn’t present the full picture. There are some creepy moments within, and just because there is no blood and guts, there doesn’t need to be. My Friendly Neighborhood is still a horror game, and a welcome change of pace from being splattered in blood just because. Sometimes it feels a bit too close to the Resident Evil bone, but at the same time has managed to transfer that solid gameplay into a setting that feels a million miles away from Raccoon City. 

If you enjoy those games, then this is a must play. And if you enjoy mascot horror, then My Friendly Neighborhood is something a bit different that doesn’t rely on cheap jumpscares and chase sections to add tension.

Important Links

My Friendly Neighborhood Blends Mascot Horror with Zombies on Xbox, Game Pass, Play Anywhere – https://www.thexboxhub.com/my-friendly-neighborhood-blends-mascot-horror-with-zombies-on-xbox-game-pass-play-anywhere/

Buy My Friendly Neighborhood on Xbox (or download via Game Pass) – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/my-friendly-neighborhood/9mwv1mv9lwf4