Survival horror has become a difficult genre to pin down in recent years. Jumpscare heavy mascot games have dominated the landscape while old school franchises like Resident Evil have pivoted to more action-packed gore.
When I first saw She’s Leaving, I had the impression of a game that’s trying to bring back that old school survival horror feel. You play as a young man armed with only a taser and UV flashlight, enemies aren’t meant to be defeated, they’re meant to be eluded. But can this kind of stealth and mystery game survive today?
Find out in our She’s Leaving review!
She’s Leaving
Developer: Blue Hat Studio
Publisher: Blue Hat Studio
Platforms: PC (Reviewed), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Release Date: December 2
Price: $9.99
Players take on the role of Charles Dalton, a forensic investigator for the police who’s following up on an investigation at House Haywood. Equipped with a taser and UV flashlight, he’s set to explore the manor with his only backup being a (not always professional) dispatcher on the radio.
The lack of safety from our protagonist is very slasher movie chic, maybe it’s me being an American but I’m absolutely flabbergasted her doesn’t have a gun. Not to mention he has no on-site support. These two things make it a bit hard to suspend disbelief, but maybe British players will have an easier time.
The first thing that strikes you in She’s Leaving is just how immersive the environment is. The game starts on a gloomy road up to the Haywood estate, there’s a gorgeous view off to the side and the entire location feels both isolated and lonely. Landmark signs give the feel of a tourist attraction after-hours.
However, to nitpick a bit, unlike most horror games there’s no prompt at the start to adjust brightness and gamma. I’m unsure what the intended appearance is, but I had to turn the gamma up all the way after I encountered shadows that felt like they should have at least a little ambient light. Am I cheating? Maybe, like I said, it’s hard to tell without any calibration.
The big draw to She’s Leaving is the game’s angle of being a forensic investigator. Players will discover blood spatters across the game and will categorize them based on the environment and the evidence it provides. When you get this wrong, you receive a temporary debuff which reduces your speed, which for how crucial these investigations are to the game you’d think the penalty would be larger. It’s annoying, but not overly punishing.
I feel like the investigations could have been expanded on more, I appreciate that the game teaches you things about blood splatter analysis, but as a game mechanic I found myself wanting something a little deeper than looking around and answering a single question. I couldn’t tell you what that would look like.
One thing I appreciate is the game’s antagonist. There’s no cheap jumpscares, just the menace of a guy lumbering towards you. It’s enough to startle you when he appears around corners, but you don’t have to turn the volume all the way down because the game screams in your ear for a cheap jump.
The game is fully voiced, enhancing the immersion. Audio is a big part of the game since you can hear the killer wandering the estate and opening doors. He also hums and mutters which actually makes him creepier. This masked guy isn’t some silent stalker, he’s a guy with a job to do, killing you is just a matter of fact.
I have to applaud Blue Hat Studios for not going with the jumpscare on death. Sure, it may seem a bit unceremonious, but there’s something creepy about this guy walking right into you and simply dying. Or even scarier is when you just hear his footsteps and don’t turn around quick enough and suddenly… “You are dead”.
Combine the killer’s audible presence, the flickering lights, and the shadows of mannequins from this tourist trap of a manor, and it makes for some creepy ambience. Sometimes, when I heard a door close nearby I’d pick a corner and have my taser ready until I felt ready to proceed. 
However “proceeding” is where She’s Leaving gets a little janky. The game is basically running around with only a few hints as to where you’re headed. Check every corner of every room to proceed, it makes for a bit of backtracking and annoyance when you find locked door after locked door. I can forgive some of it as a matter of making the map feel larger, but I got a little frustrated about an hour into my adventure.
Ultimately, She’s Leaving is a fantastic first project for Blue Hat Studios, and they clearly have vision and pride in their work as we can see with the voice acting and writing. But I can’t help but feel they need a more ambitious project to really shine. As it stands, She’s Leaving is a pretty standard survival horror game which tries something new, but relies too much on a gimmick to stand apart.
She’s Leaving was reviewed on Windows PC (via Steam) using a code provided by Blue Hat Studios. Additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy is here. She’s Leaving is now available for PC. Xbox and PlayStation players will have to wait until December 9.
