Quick Look: The Hat Man: Shadow Ward

Thx Jason!

"The Hat Man" is the funniest game title in a while.

edit: This game seems to run like shit, at least in the QL.

NOT THE HAT MAN!!!

"The Hat Man" is not a good start for a horror game

Did someone say?

The credits room is fucking ridiculous.

Oh no, not.....THE HAT MAN

Well this game seems... bad. Yeah, just bad.

Steam is really on a roll with these bad horror game releases.

I had a few sleep paralysis episodes before. Scariest thing I've ever experienced, especially because I didn't know what the fuck sleep paralysis was at the time, or that such a thing was even possible, so as far as I was concerned, there was really a ghost creeping around my bed and controlling my body. The first time it happened was a sort of a "oh my god, these things actually exist!" moment for me. There was another cool one where when I woke up, a creepy ghost lady was staring at me from like 3 inches of my face. Fun stuff!

Only lasted a few months and never happened again since. I think it was mostly due to stress and sleep deprivation.

Aww sweet! A new Hitman game?

Oh wait. That's not-

*sigh*

Yep, I also experienced sleep paralysis. It was scary when it happened the first time. It hasn't happened to me for quite some time though. The last couple of times it was just uncomfortable, but it only lasts a couple of seconds. I don't dream in this state which makes it all the more uncomfortable. I am fully aware that I am awake, but I can't open my eyes or move my body. It's natural to the human body and prevents you from moving at night - pretty useful, if you enjoy sleeping on trees :-D

Thason.

I remember that monster looking vastly different (and actually more threatening) when Jim Sterling played this game a long while ago.

EDIT: Spoke too soon, the monster I was talking about showed up.

Bless you, @beachthunder.

"is" this quick look?

I used to think sleep paralysis happened because the aliens botched the job and sent me back early, I'm much better now though...

Hat Man: "Just giving you a heads up, I am coming to take you away soon. ttyl"

Man Wolf is such a piece of shit. Always really enjoy these Drew/Dan QL's of terrible Steam games

Sleep paralysis is the worst. Sometimes I don't go "full paralysis" and have the impression that my whole body is moving in slow motion. Like it's taking a lot of time just to raise my arm. So there is that plus the shadow figure, sometimes.

Maybe that's why I don't like horror films or games.

Really enjoying this ongoing series of "Dan and Drew are unimpressed by bad horror games".

Also, didn't Vinny talk about his sleep paralysis? I think he even drew a picture of the demonic monster he sees.

Dadadadadadada Hatman!

Drew and Dan are a dynamite team. Shame this game is so dry even they struggle to get something out of it.

Give me that Ax.

Spooky hat ghosts aside, the most frightening thing is this Quick Look is the voice acting.

That should be 'in this quicklook'.

Sleep Paralysis has been the most terrifying thing I've experienced. And it used to happen all the time for me. Weirdly enough, last night I actually experienced it again for the first time in about a year.

Imagine waking up in a dark room. You're on your back, looking up. Your skin crawls. Shadows dance around you, even when it's too fucking dark for you to see shadows. You hear the air moving, even when there's no movement. You're convinced that the door is open, even though it's closed. But your head is pointed towards the corner with the door, so you can't see it. You can't tell if the dark invader is there. But you know it is. And you know it's bad fucking news. You know it means you ill.

And you can't move. You can't move a fucking inch, you can't even speak or whisper you can barely even breath. You might feel the urge to scream, but you can't do it. You can't cry out for help even though it's all you want to do, desperately you want to call out to scream for help even if there's no one there who could help.

And it can last an hour or more. So there you are, laying in bed, staring at the ceiling with nothing but your peripheral vision to see in a room ranging from pitch black to very, very dark. While a malicious entity stalks around you. And you try the entire time to yell out. For an hour or two.
And then imagine that's a semi regular occurrence.I think most cases of it are a lot less severe than mine. Usually those who get the recurring ones get out of body experiences and longer occurrences. But the recurring ones are (usually) short, as short as a few minutes, and involve dark figures or invaders. I get the long and the shitty ones, and I used to get them really frequently.It's crazy because after it happens I'm usually fine, and it's not like I can't handle being in danger or anything. I generally keep calm in dangerous situations but god damn, sleep paralysis can really turn a guy's world inside out.

I've had sleep paralysis. Although I didn't see any ghosties. Just couldn't move and I slightly panicked which lead to me basically leaping out of bed.

@jarmahead: There's a reason why so much folklore and stories have been created in history to explain sleep paralysis. In the 17th and the 18th century people believed sleep paralysis to be demonic possession, and the normal illustration of sleep paralysis was a demon sitting on someone's chest while they were asleep. One of the most famous paintings of that image is this:

I've suffered from sleep paralysis over the years myself, and I think it's the reason why I don't really enjoy horror entertainment. It can be fucking terrifying. The scientific explanations of why we react that way are fascinating, and I recommend the Wikipedia article on this subject for a quick primer.

Sleep paralysis, When I was 6-8, immobilized in bed screaming awake while a huge 4 footed huge animal thumped into my room...then thumped it's way out. Present day, just lying in bed awake immobilized with feeling of floating/electricity. I actually deal w/ that okay. Very rare these days.

I do not know what this game wants to be.

Johnny Two Hats is the Hat Man

The inner monologue makes this.

I have sleep paralysis all the time, but it's never been scary. Usually it happens when I'm probably close to waking up naturally, but for some reason I became lucid sooner than I should have. It's just frustrating for me; I'm laying there, I know my arms are by my side or whatever, and I know my eyelids are closed, but no matter how many signals I send to my brain to open my eyelids and move my arms they just won't budge. It's like I can actually feel myself sending the signals, and the lack of response is a weird kind of pain... or maybe that's just the frustration. It never just dissipates for me, though, that I can remember. What typically seems to happen is I'll say "fuck it" and fall back asleep for a few minutes until my body's done being an asshole.

i like the info dump at the beginning! Dan and Drew are a great team! Looking forward to seeing them both in other videos as well!

I have had hypnagogic hallucinations, its really weird. I have always had terror as a part of it, even when I know what's happening. I don't see things, but I hear and feel things frequently, which is neat because I once was able to listen to music play in my head.

Not gonna lie, watching the shadow blob thing materialise through the wall... kinda scary!

There was "some kid" who dropped turds on the floor. Sure, Dan.

This seems like a weird game, but at least it looks better than a lot of the other indie horror games of recent.

I experienced a couple of very mild episodes of sleep paralysis years ago. I never saw any visions of creatures or anything. But I was awake and couldn't move. It lasted no more than a minute or two each time. That was scary enough for me though.

I can't recall the exact scientific explanation but I think part of it has something to do with the function that stops your body from walking about when you go to sleep. You wake up before this "function" switches off or something and find yourself unable to move even though you're awake.

That first scare actually made me jump. Hahaha. It was just so out of nowhere.

Dan Rykert. He doesn't know what gas is.

@jarmahead: Hot damn that's nasty. I enjoy the wonders of sleep paralysis too, at least once a week, but usually only for a few seconds to half a minute at worst. I had no idea it could last for hours!

What's that referencing?

I love how they couldn't remember the name of that other game even when they were playing it (and obviously neither can I without looking it up). It came up during that quick look, the bombcast, and now this.

About Schmidt is fantastic, with a very atypical Jack Nicholson lead character. Man, I should really watch that again sometime.

Yep, that looks like Canton.

Hmm, this game looks similar to...every other shitty indie horror game.

I think the voice acting in this game is GREAT.

Also, was that a One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest reference from Dan? Okay, it was. Good.

I wonder what changes if you choose to play as the mother.

Also, I never liked how people in these 'insane asylum' spooky games actually refer to themselves as insane and call the place they're in an insane asylum. It really isn't realistic.

Holy... Now you have my attention. Suddenly The Hat Man: Shadow Ward doesn't look very fun.

listening to this after MG scanlon. The game from the 90's has better VA in it.

I get something similar where i am conscious but can't open my eyes or move etc. The worst part is it feels like it goes on for what seems like 30 mins or more. I have sort of figured out how to shock myself "awake" but it's a really weird sensation. It tends to happen more if have woken up and then gone back to bed. For instance if i get up insanely early to watch F1 and then go back to bed I can almost guarantee it will happen. Been that way since i was a kid.

Ok. I'm about done with these youtube-bait games showing up as quick looks.

Even if it is funny to see them offering real criticism and thought to these trash games.

@jaydubya: Whoops! Thank ya. Should be fixed now.