Hollow Pines

A third-person survival horror walk through a foggy, rain-soaked forest at night.

Your car is wrecked at the edge of the woods, and shadow-wrapped figures stalk the trail to an old Lumber Mill. Its gate is locked: follow the side path to an abandoned cabin, take the Rusty Key and fight your way back. Towering yellow sky beacons mark the key and the gate, and the compass at the top of the screen shows every objective with its distance. Bullets pass through their dark shield, so first focus your flashlight to burn the shadow away, then finish them off.

• Three weapons: Revolver (1), Pump-Action Shotgun (2) for brutal close-range spread, and the Flare Gun (3) that fires an explosive red flare rocket, vaporizing shields and Taken in a huge radius.
• Overcharge Burst (Q): at a full battery, a 360-degree shockwave of light stuns everything around you.
• Light traps: shoot halogen lamps or red fuel barrels.
• Safe havens: lit streetlamps heal you; mash a dead lamp's generator (E) to relight it.
• Level 2: The Abandoned Town: after the forest (or from the main menu), a foggy street of abandoned cars, broken streetlights, a neon Diner and a locked Sheriff's Station. Possessed cars light up, rev and charge: dodge with Shift or burn them with the focused beam. Take the Station Keycard from the Diner and the lights die, the doors lock for 45 seconds and Fast Taken smash through the windows. Survive with the Shotgun (2) and flares (F), then swipe the keycard at the station.
• Radio Tower finale: past the Lumber Mill gate, find 3 glowing fuses to power the tower, then hold out for 90 seconds while its rotating spotlight strips shields off the Taken.
• Final boss: the Possessed Bulldozer. Dodge its charges, burn the shield off its 3 red fuel tanks, then blast them with the Shotgun.
• Flashbangs (G): strip every shield within 10 m in a blinding white flash.
• Red flares (F): a zone of red light that burns shields off and drives enemies back.
• Poltergeists: possessed barrels and tires fly at you; burn them out of the air.
• Slow-Motion Dodge: tap Shift right as an attacker swings for a second of slow motion.
• Manuscript pages: picking one up pauses the game to read it full screen; re-read them in the ESC menu.
• Settings: Low to Ultra graphics, volume, mouse sensitivity and English or Spanish.

Controls: WASD move, tap Shift dodge, mouse aim, hold right click to focus the beam, left click shoot, 1/2/3 switch weapons, Q overcharge burst, X reload, F drop flare, G throw flashbang, E mash generator / use the fuse box, R load battery, ESC pause, Space jump, C sprint. Controller: left stick move, right stick aim, LT focus beam, RT shoot, A dodge, d-pad left/right switch weapons, R3 or d-pad up overcharge burst, LB flashbang, RB generator, Y battery, B flare, X reload. Phones in landscape: left pad move, drag to aim, on-screen buttons.