There are a few locations to play in and comprise individual missions or shows if you like. But again, that’s all part of the exploration of the game and is genuinely fun. That’s not to say it’s easy as sometimes it’s not clear what you have to do to trigger a prank and other times you have to instigate one to activate or link to another. You can use the right stick to look around at any time and make a note of the patterns, but it’s usually quite rigid and once you ‘get it’, you can run around a level as if you’ve orchestrated it yourself. So Neighbours Back From Hell isn’t doing well, right? On the surface, no, but the experimentation with pranks and sneaking about without getting caught is surprisingly fun, if a little repetitive. The 70s reference reminds me of an old sitcom your grandparents might watch the decor, fashion and jokes remind me of that cheesy Just For Laughs show you always end up seeing on long-haul flights. What these challenges are is down to your experimentation.
Each stage adds several challenges you need to complete before you can exit the house. You get a laugh and earn a badge to proceed. Each time you do it, they get into a rage. If you’re seen, you get a beating and lose a life, otherwise, you scavenge around for household objects to sabotage the victims’ quality of life. Woody, already committing a crime by breaking and entering, but also vandalism and fast-tracking himself to an ABSO sneaks into the house and hides in a relatively safe location to watch the patterns of his subject. But that wasn’t my issue with the game it was the canned 70s like humour. The character models and locations are very good, but they look like they’re based on decades-old technology – when you first saw CG rendered scenes in a game, but your Pentium 2 was never quick enough to play it.
If you’ve played the game that came out over 20 years ago, you might be already familiar with this, but taking a fresh approach, there’s something incredibly dated about the game. Rather than do the ‘correct thing’ (which doesn’t work in real life) maturely discuss then involve relevant parties, he secures a camera crew and plays pranks. The family aren’t desirable neighbours, and Woody has his fair share of run-ins. A bit of a stereotypical thug, Mr Rottweiler is a classic stereotype beer gut, slob, wears a vest all year round. He hates his neighbours, the Rottweiler family, and the feeling’s mutual. Perhaps it had a bit of a cult following and fans will dance in the streets now they can play on their Switch, or people like me can see what the fuss, if there is any, is all about. Whether you are a gamer for like, or gaming is your life, there will be titles that you’ll miss, never heard of or played, and despite reviewing games, I wasn’t familiar with the Neighbours From Hell franchise.