Howdy Gamers
Yesterday I started playing a first person horror game called Harthorn.
It's been a long time since I played a horror game and I felt like playing something scary so I looked to see what new horror titles came out around halloween last year.
This title intrigued me the most so I picked it up on Steam for only £2.89.
This video is part 1 of our adventure...or I guess its more part 1 of the nightmare!
So lets dive right in...
Its winter break 1994...Harthorn high school is empty ,all the students having left for the holidays.
We are playing the role of a security guard who is starting his first day on the job.
As the game begins we are in a conversation with a woman called April via a radio.This is our only point of contact and her voice is the only companionship we have as we patrol the empty lonely halls of Harthorn...
April: "Morning ,you're the new guy right?"
"Ahh morning ,yup that's me ,you're my...Safety & Security Dispatcher?"
April :"I'm April but also yes I'm your Dispatcher.I'll be checking in with you while you do your rounds,have you worked as a Security Guard before?"
"Nooo, it's a first time thing.I recently moved here to go to University and needed a job in between classes,not that I don't appreciate the opportunity..."
"Ahh,well that's good to hear.The orientation was a bit on the brief sie so its good to have someone help me out"
April:Thought you sounded a bit on the younger side,and don't worry Im not your boss.I'm just here to check in with you from time to time"
April:"Its a quiet town all you need to do is just walk around and try not to have a tea party with the skeletons out of boredom"
"Thanks for the tip I honestly don't mind the quiet here.Its peaceful."
April:"It's peaceful because its winter break,when I attended Harthorn it was far from it..."
"You're a local?"
April"Yup,born and raised.Radio me if you need anything new guy."
"Ok will do,thanks April"
The conversation ends and we are left to patrol the perimeter.For this morning shift all we need to do is walk around the first floor of the school from the south wing to the north wing then back down the opposite corridor back to the south wing.
We need to check certain rooms along the way...
In one of the storage cupboards we find some lit candles and a newspaper...
The main article is a about a break in at a local armoury.Are we going to be dealing with some kind crazy military guy latr on?I wonder who left those lit candles burning....the schools supposed to be empty....
For the morning shift that last thing we need to do is locate and inspect the art storage room.Pressing the tab button brings up our current objectives and inventory...
Once we locate the art storage room and head inside the Morning shift is over.
Evening shift begins and were back in the lonely halls of Harthorn...
Our first objective is to head to the infirmary.
When we arrive in the infirmary April radios to check in with us...
April: "Hey how's the evening shift?"
"Hey April, its going good.Just doing my rounds and staying on schedule"
April : Ya I'm bored too.Have you explored much of the school outside of your rounds?"
"...Not really, no"
April: "You should go check out the basement"
"...I should?"
April:"If you do I'll tell you a story.If you're sticking to your schedule you should be close to it anyways..."
Ok so I guess we need to go to this mysterious basement to hear Aprils story....at this point I start to get a little unnerved about what might be down there...
Lets head out of the infirmary and try and find the basement...
Damn these lonely halls are creepy...
That's the entrance to the basement at the bottom of the corridor...
April: I actually used to be in the Pep Squad for the basketball team The Harthorn Cobras"
"Really?"
April: "No.Are you in the basement yet?"
"Ahh Im almost there I think.."
Ok so I guess we have to head down into this ominous basement ad hear Aprils story...
Against my better judgement we head down the stairs..
At the bottom of the stairwell I take a moment to admire the lead characters shadow...
Ok mysterious basement,what have you got for us?
"Ok.Im in the basement"
April: "What do you see?"
"A gate and other things typical of a high school basement"
April: "Go to the room on your left, it will be worth it,I promise!"
"...ok"
So we are in the room April mentioned...nothing out of the ordinary here...seems like a storage area...
Oh no...a mysterious boarded up door...colour me intrigued...but also kinda scared..I am instantly reminded of an episode of the 1990s horror anthology series Are You Afraid of the Dark - Episode 501 - Dead Man's Float - Some high school students discover a boarded up door that leads to a haunted swimming pool...maybe thats whats down there?
April:"Now what do you see?"
"A boarded up door?"
April: "Want to know what's on the other side?"
"Maybe? This is getting a little weird..."
April:"It's part of the original school hall ,the classes used to be down here before they built the new wing.We used to call it "The Dungeon" when I attended Harthorn"
"The Dungeon? Well that's grim..."
April:"I had Math and History down here for 3 years,that's grim.After the new part of the school was finished they moved everyone upstairs for renovations"
"So,why is it all locked up then?"
April:"So many rumours around Harthorn on why they condemned it.I've heard things from the school hiding a crime that took place there by a disturbed former art teacher to a pipe bursting causing water damage and black mold with no school funds leftover to fix it.That last one being the least exciting but probably most accurate one..."
"Im inclined to agree."
April:"But for now,its off-limits to everyone."
Exploring the basement is our next objective...
Behind this door is a washroom...
This is the last toilet in the world you would ever want to use...
If these boots had moved I would have pooped myself...
Luckily its just an old pair of boots with noone in them...phew!
The toilet door closest to the entrance is stuck....
This one barely opens enough to see what's behind it...
As we head back out the door that was stuck bursts open...
A creepy mannequin pops out and I damn near jumped out of my skin....I dont handle jump scares well.Nice one Harthorn ,you got me!
April:"You ok over there?"
"Why would a high school even have mannequins"
April:"Probably the Sewing and Textiles class,they make clothes for some projects.I made some overalls senior year that we won't be talking about..Also if you need batteries or anything for your radio it will be kept down here,there was an issue with theft in the past so the electronic stuff is kept in the basement"
Great so when we need replacement batteries we need to come down here again...
"Batteries are in the basement,noted,thank you."
April: "It's getting pretty close to the end of your shift.I need you to grab some keys before you leave tonight"
"Yeah sure.I've had enough of "The Dungeon" anyways,what am I doing with the keys?"
April: "Barely lasted one night down there.As part of the security package for the schol we're updating.Harthorn's rusty locks to keypads,and other fancy things tomorrow morning"
"That sounds pretty high tech"
April:"Its 1994 new guy,times are a change'n"
Time to get out of this creepy basement...
"Fair enough"
Another impressive shadow is cast as we ascend the staircase...
April:"Go to the Reception Office and find the main set of keys for Harthorn"
Ok so we just need to go get the keys from the main office...
Lets have a look in the main office...
Another set of lit candles and a note...
"Hey Geoff.
Figured you might find this if you're cleaning Harthorn during the winter break.It's probably just the pipes but I've been hearing some metallic noises coming from the basement..I know no ones been down there in years but could you go down and take a look?
If you're not comfortable going past the gate I totally understand,no staff want to go back down there again after last time.
Principle Greg Anderson"
Intriguing...everything is pointing to a mystery in the basement...I guess we should grab the keys and get out of here...
"I got the keys"
April: "Awesome, on your way out just leave them in the company truck for the Technicians,we always keep it parked out there and they have their own set to open it tomorrow morning and grab them"
"Will do,night April"
April: "Nighty Night"
And with that we finish our evening shift and head out the front door...
The next part of the game opens with us getting a late night call out to the school...
"Hello?
April: "Hey it's April you're on call tonight right?"
"Uh ya,ya I am,what's up?"
April"The alarm at Harthorn is going of can you drive down there?The installation guys probably wired something wrong,but we still got to check it out..."
"Ya sure Im on my way."
April: The new key is hidden in an old school bus in the woods next to the school,the technician had to leave late and needed to put it somewhere...and it's not like he could leave it under the doormat...
Ok so we arrive at the school ground to investigate a disturbance and find out what has triggered the alarm.We need to retrieve the key from an old school bus in the woods ...
Yeah this is a little creepy...
Ok lets see if we can find the key...
Spooky...I cant help but imagine ghost kids staring at me...
Ok lets grab the key and get out of here...
The key opens this entrance into the South wing...
"Can you hear me April?"
April: "Loud and clear"
"I grabbed the keys from the old school bus.Im in Harthorn now"
Ok so we just gotta have a look around and see whats up...
April: "Alright,the alarm went off somewhere in the Southwest Wing,check the map if you ever get tuned around"
We need to switch the lights on to investigate the rooms making things a little more eerie..
This rooms kinda dark lets try turning the lights on...
Ok seems fine , nothing suspicious here...
The next room I check out has a set of lit candles and a note...
I don't want to type out everything in the note ,basically some of the staff are concerned that a former art teacher named Victor has been released from prison.He was a suspect in the disappearance of a couple of students.
Suddenly the halls of Harthorn feel creepier now that we are aware this crazy art teacher might be staking the halls....
A quick investigation of the boys bathroom reveals nothing suspicious...
While investigating the girls bathroom we find out the window has been broken...
"I think I found what set of the alarm, the window in the girls washroom is busted"
April:"Damn..protocol says to investigate first,then contact the Police if necessary,probably just some kids anyways..."
Checking all the stalls reveals nothing,there's nobody hiding in here...
Ok our objective is updated we just have to look around for anything suspicious...
Lets head back out into the halls...
"Hey April,I sort of noticed something..."
April "Whats up?"
"The window was broken in the girls bathroom but there was no glass on the floor...It gave me the impression that someone broke out of the school,not into it..."
April: "Why would someone break out of Harthorn?"
"I don't know...Something to do with changing all the locks?"
April: "I think you might be working yourself up?"
I wander around Harthorn some more eventually arriving at the principal's office...
April:"How's the investigation?"
"I'm by the Principal's Office..."
April: "Great after replacing most of the locks the technicians left the Master Keycard there,take a look around"
In the office we find a note from the schools coach but no keycard...
"No sign of the Master Keycard anywhere..."
April: "Strange...some doors might still work with the old locks,keep an eye out for any old keys.If you're done in the South Wing go to the North Wing through the Gym"
The note tells us the key to the gym is in a lockbox in the art room and the code to open the box can be found in the gym supply closet.
Lets head to the supply closet...on the way there we get another jump scare...as we head to the corridor where the gym supplies closet is located a basketball rolls past the door we are heading to
Ok... the gym supply closet is at the end of this corridor....the basketball has me kinda freaked out and a little apprehensive about walking down the corridor...
Ok guess we got to look inside...
Ok so the coaches note said the code for the lockbox is the first 3 lines of gym equipment...
So it should be 946...lets head to the art room and try it...
The lockbox has to be around here somewhere...
Hey Vincent..., have you seen a lockbox somewhere around here?
Ah ha, here it is...
946 works to unlock the padlock...
Ok we got the key lets head to the gym
"In the gymnasium now"
April: "Cool,that door to your north will need to be opened...."
"April? You cut out at the end there..."
April "Things are fine on my end,did you touch the frequency?Could be the weather honestly..."
"Shit I was supposed to replace the batteries before dropping of the keys yesterday...I remember her saying they're kept in the basement with the electronics which is in the North Wing anyways..."
The door to the north wing is blocked , we need to find another way in...
The maintenance key opens this door which leads up the air ducts...
Guess we gotta climb up...
Crawling across the ducts eventually we reach an air shaft...
Crawling through the ducts we end up in a bathroom...
Checking the stalls reveals another creepy mannequin...
Outside the bathroom we find one of the class rooms barricaded....
"I don't think the technicians would do that...."
I wander the corridors investigating different rooms...nothing in this one...thankfully...
In the janitors closet we find another note...
It seems someone has been stealing supplies...
This is the corridor with the North wing door to the gym...
Someone has barricaded the door!
"Oh shit someone is in Harthorn...ok lay low...don't make to much noise..."
This is where we get our first glance of the deranged art teacher, he walks passed the open hall way door...
He looks kinda menacing ,I don't think we want to mess with this guy,thankfully it seems he hasn't seen us...
Im suitably creeped out now ,things just got a whole lot scarier now that I know this guy is stalking the halls....
Our objective now is to get to the basement and get batteries to radio April.
We have to head in the direction the crazy guy was walking...
Ok ,the coast is clear but where did he go?Yeah ok now I'm a little unnerved!
"Ok ok get the batteries from the basement..radio April..."
Ok were at the basement but its now locked with a keycard....
Ok this seems like a good place to end part 1 of this story.This post is getting crazy long...In part 2 we will find a way into the basement and find out what this crazy art guy is up to down there!