My Friendly Neighborhood is a creative little video game that’s classified as survival horror. But some have suggested that this game is actually a “mascot” survival-horror title.
What exactly does that mean? Well, in this case, you could say it’s something akin to Sesame Street gone wrong. Because without saying as much, the game’s creators have built a world of frenzied Muppets.
And like all Sesame Street episodes, the adventure comes with a lesson.
The story is set in a world much like our own, where the airwaves and social media feeds are filled with rather depressing and unsettling news. Then unexpectedly, the MFN studios—a massive kids’ show complex that was closed and abandoned years ago—springs back to life and begins broadcasting its puppet-centric, family-friendly episodes over the local news broadcasts.
Gamers play as Gordon, a crotchety city maintenance guy, who’s assigned the task of finding a way up to the empty studio’s antenna relay and shutting things down. But since the place is abandoned and locked up, who’s broadcasting the old shows to begin with? How is it all being powered? Why are there enlivened puppets all over the place? And how, exactly, will the weary Gordon finish his job?
Gameplay focuses on working through the MFN complex from a first-person, VR-feeling, perspective. Gamers explore; scavenge for clues, usable items and weapons; solve various environmental puzzles (that are sometimes a little tough); deal with some minigames and memory challenges; and try not to get hugged to “death” by the cheery and slightly manic puppets.
As you might have already gathered, there are jump scares and “battles” in the mix as you travel through darkened and sometimes creepy feeling areas. (More on that below.) And players have very limited saving points and opportunities. If your HP is battered away by some felt-furball hugs, you lose all progress and return to your last save point.
My Friendly Neighborhood is a single-player game that does not offer a multiplayer option, and it’s played offline.
This game is creative, humorous and challenging. I’ll give it that. And, as noted above, it ends with a positive message.
Without giving too much away, I can say that MFN promotes the idea that our world can be far too dark and inhospitable at times. It tells us that as a society, we need to focus more on our good traits and positive nature and less on the corrosive stuff in the world around us. In fact, it’s those caustic things that have even driven the puppet residents of the neighborhood a bit crazy, the game suggests.
[Spoiler Warning] By game’s end, players are given the choice to either stick around and help the puppets further promote their hoped-for message of positivity or shut the whole thing down.
Despite its E10+ rating and Muppet-like characters, this game could be disturbing for younger players.
The “horror” descriptor is a bit of a stretch here, but MFN can certainly feel creepy. For instance, the felt-covered foes don’t attack in bloody ways, but they do suddenly turn in shadowed corridors and rush at the camera as they bump and hug players HP points away.
The game’s puppety “friends” also spout their “normal” episode lines continually, such as, “Let’s be excellent,” “The mail comes every day,” and “Lunch is my favorite meal.” But those declarations often morph in troubling ways involving self-harm (swallowing a puppet hand, losing a limb, etc.) and other strange choices.
Players also pick up a pipe wrench and “guns” to battle the charging puppetry. (The guns shoot rolodex cards of letters rather than bullets.) And though the attacking felt foes are knocked out, they revive and charge again if not bound with duct tape (which is in very short supply). There are some monstery, multiple-headed puppets in the attacking collective as well.
There’s no foul language here, but milder interjections include: “geez,” “crap,” “stupid puppet” and “the heck?” in Gordon’s mumbled dialogue. We also see an ash tray full of stubbed out cigarettes.
This creative survival horror game is more silly, spooky and smirk-worthy than it is terrifying. But don’t confuse My Friendly Neighborhood’s rating and its Sesame Street vibe as an open invitation for young puppet-lovingfans. They should play in other, friendlier neighborhoods.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
