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The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes

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The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes

Oct 22, 2021

Main game

3.65 average rating based on 379 ratings

5
69
4
154
3
124
2
20
1
12
House of Ashes is the third installment in The Dark Pictures Anthology, a series of standalone cinematic horror games where your decisions determine the story and outcome. During the final days of the Iraq War, a Special Forces unit hunting for weapons of mass destruction discovers a buried Sumerian temple and the ancient horrors dwelling within it. Trapped underground, soldiers and their enemies must work together against creatures that threaten them all. Your choices throughout the game influence character relationships, available actions, and whether the group lives to see daylight.
Release Dates
Oct 22, 2021 Full Release (Worldwide)
PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
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User Stats
1491
In Collection
204
Wish Listed
17
Playing
751
Backlogged
How Long Is The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes?
Main story: 7.0 hours
Main + extras: 9.5 hours
Total completions: 20
Related Content
Jukajo
Jukajo gave May 1, 2025
Jukajo gave May 1, 2025
Fun, trashy coop-experience
This review is for the PC (Microsoft Windows) version

Played this with a friend and had a lot of fun. The gameplay is fairly janky and awkward most of the time, but the characters and set pieces were enjoyable enough to warrant a second playthrough to try and save everyone (which we didn't manage, haha). Much better than Man of Medan.

If you approach this as a trashy-fun coop experience you'll probably enjoy yourself a lot. For a "serious" single player campaign I'd probably rather spend my time on another game. If I could I'd give it 3.5 out of 5.

Edit: Also, if you care about achievements: The only way we could get online coop to work was by both using the friend pass version of the game, which does not give any achievements.

Donnieleap
Donnieleap gave Jan 1, 2025
Donnieleap gave Jan 1, 2025
Donnieleap's review of The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes

After legit hating The Quarry and Man of Medan, I reluctantly decided to dust this off of my backlog list just to get it out of the way. Boy did I enjoy this one so much more. Not as good as Until Dawn but still a very fun ride. Gameplay wasn't the most involved (wait, wait, wait, PRESS X!!!!, wait, wait, wait....) but having a decent story and characters in what's essentially an interactive movie is key. Definitely down to play again to see the different endings and character deaths.

Yaru
Yaru gave Jun 21, 2023
Yaru gave Jun 21, 2023
Yaru's review of The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes

"I can't really focus on games enough to do marathonian play sessions" I say, before finishing this one in like a day and half of playing as much as I could.

An incredible game. Sure, the gameplay is a bit on the low side, it's more of an interactive movie than a game per se, but is is an excellent interactive movie. A great cast, beautiful graphics, very well written plot and great plot twists.

Lemonade229
Lemonade229 gave Jan 29, 2023
Lemonade229 gave Jan 29, 2023
THAT PLOT WAS A WILD RIDE FROM START TO FINISH
This review is for the PC (Microsoft Windows) version

Ok so spoilers ahead.

But like, to go from the Iraq War, to Sumerian temple, to vampires, to ALIENS!?!?? Like just pulling off that kind of plot and connecting it all together to keep you guessing had me not knowing what was coming next!! Not too scary of a game but definitely creepy, but just trying to solve the story as you play made this game great. Better than Man of Medan and Little Hope in my opinion. Now just to play the next game Devil In Me!!

gkel
gkel gave Feb 19, 2022
gkel gave Feb 19, 2022
gkel's review of The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes

I LOVE CHOICE GAMES I... wait no this one is average. story takes the weirdest turn, but at least the choice aspect is cool af.

wardenunit
wardenunit gave Nov 8, 2021
wardenunit gave Nov 8, 2021
A game that hides something nice.
This review is for the PC (Microsoft Windows) version

A game that hides a letter telling me about a substance that gives people colors and visual effects. A game about letting go. 10/10, i see a trend here, more and more content about the elephant in the room. Nice job devs.

Strawhat
Strawhat gave Nov 6, 2023 (edited)
Strawhat gave Nov 6, 2023 (edited)
8.5/10 - Great

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INTERACTIVE HORROR - Trapped in an ancient Sumerian temple, these 5 individuals must work together in order to escape the nightmarish monsters awaiting them.

PROS:

++ Visuals. For the most part, the graphics are great and most characters look good.

++ Solid cast. Despite their character flaws, you wanted to keep the main 5 alive. The best of the bunch are by far and away, Jason and Salim.

++ Interesting premise.

++ The monsters. They were intimidating and had a cool origin story and design. They're "vampires" who were really extraterrestrial beings that were annihilated by a parasite.

++ Plot twists. Game always introduced new twists and revelations that kept the player hooked.

++ Replayable.

++ Co-Op Mode. Co-op was handled well, making this game perfect for a group gathering.

CONS:

-- Stiff expressions. Some facial animations and character movement looked stiff and unnatural, especially Ashley Tisdale's character.

-- Texture pop-In. Some textures took a while to load, in one instance not even loading at all.

-- Sluggish movement.

Trost
Trost gave Aug 6, 2022
Trost gave Aug 6, 2022
Online coop done in an interesting way.
This review is for the PC (Microsoft Windows) version

If i played this alone, I'd rate this 4/5.
But I really liked how they handled online coop.
The characters are split between 2 players. Sometimes you and your friend play 2 characters that are together at the moment. Other times each player is playing a character that's in the different place, so each one of you gets to see different parts of the story.

This is interesting, because: You get to know only 70% of the story, from the perspective of your characters and the rest is a mystery to you. And your friend knows the other 30% of the story but didn't see something that you did.
This allows you to make unbiased choices, and I do believe it's different experience from singleplayer.

*Keep in mind that couch coop is just singleplayer with taking turns. While online coop is synchronous storytelling and this is the best way to play IMO.
We're going to switch roles now and play it through once again with my friend.

LCSnoogs
LCSnoogs gave Jun 11, 2022
LCSnoogs gave Jun 11, 2022
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes

Way better than the last two. Better characters, better writing, and a better story. There were some scary QTEs in this that had me freaking out trying to keep my characters alive. There were some neat presentation choices such as cut scenes designed to look like old stock footage from the early 1900s. The best thing I can say is that this would've made a really good movie too.

FreePalestine
FreePalestine updated their status Oct 14, 2025
FreePalestine updated their status Oct 14, 2025

Watching American invaders getting their shit kicked in the middle east will never not be fun to play. Best Dark Pictures game so far.

kindydreaming
kindydreaming updated their status Jul 9, 2024
kindydreaming updated their status Jul 9, 2024

Played it blind with friends and now working on clearing it on my own.

solarplums
solarplums updated their status May 12, 2024
solarplums updated their status May 12, 2024

story: 1.5/5 gameplay 2/5 dialogue 3/5 graphics 2/5 atmospheric/immersive 3/5 surpassed expectations: no

conorhickey
conorhickey updated their status Jan 7, 2024
conorhickey updated their status Jan 7, 2024

Very good, story was excellent, wish some of the walking speeds where faster, large caverns took ages to navigate

Donnieleap
Donnieleap updated their status Nov 15, 2023
Donnieleap updated their status Nov 15, 2023

After legit hating The Quarry and Man of Medan, I reluctantly decided to dust this off of my backlog list just to get it out of the way. Boy did I enjoy this one so much more. Not as good as Until Dawn but still a very fun ride. Gameplay wasn't the most involved (wait, wait, wait, PRESS X!!!!, wait, wait, wait....) but having a decent story and characters in what's essentially an interactive movie is key. Definitely down to play again to see the different endings and character deaths.

Novastar
Novastar updated their status Oct 25, 2021
Novastar updated their status Oct 25, 2021

Enjoyed this as much as the other 2. Creepy atmosphere and great cast of characters! House of Ashes had better writing this time and I juz adore the pairing of Salim & Jason. Can't wait for the Devil in Me.

BMO
BMO updated their status Jun 10, 2021
BMO updated their status Jun 10, 2021

Yikes. American soldiers find an underground Sumerian temple in Iraq during Desert Storm. Can't say I trust Supermassive to handle this story thoughtfully.