As the title of this review suggests, My Friendly Neighborhood, developed by John and Evan Szymanski and published by DreadXP, melds many of the best features from BioShock and Resident Evil into a surprisingly original, E-rated indie survival-horror FPS title that no fan of the genre should miss out on!
Refusing to rely on over-the-top gore and graphic content, the team behind MFN opted to develop a sincere, lasting form of fear through the game’s often ominous and uncanny atmosphere, well-timed but not overused jump scares, and a vast array of locations dripping with intriguing personalities and effective environmental storytelling. I initially assumed it would be something akin to Five Nights at Freddy’s or Garten of Banban, but after stepping foot onto the hellaciously humorous and truly terrifying MFN studio property, I realized just how wrong I was.
The game follows Gordon O’Brian, a grumpy, middle-aged repairman and war veteran tasked with shutting down the broadcast antenna at the ‘My Friendly Neighborhood’ studio. The puppets that starred in the once-popular but now-defunct children’s program have sprung to life and are rebroadcasting the show, disrupting the nightly news broadcast, and the network executives want it stopped. The puppets only seem to want to bring joy, kindness, and education to the masses in an attempt to override the news’ narrative of a dark, damaged world, but their methods are… seemingly not so “friendly.”
I was immediately met with a familiar sense of wonder as I found my way into the lobby of MFN’s towering network headquarters. It felt like laying eyes on a deceptively friendlier version of the underwater dystopia of Rapture for the first time, only with its own uniquely creative art style and incredibly fun gameplay that were equal parts inspired and original.
The first-person melee and gunplay felt very much like BioShock (even starting the player out with a red wrench as their first weapon), while the inventory management blended the original Resident Evil titles with later iterations, including safe rooms complete with item storage and their own reassuring, dulcet safe-room music, alongside an on-person inventory toolbox that functions similarly to Leon’s attaché case in Resident Evil 4. With all of that said, the game had more than enough of its own flavor to truly set it apart from its predecessors.
The varied environments ranged from Sesame Street–meets–Raccoon City film sets to dim sewers and sub-basements, ornate art-deco foyers and offices akin to the Spencer Mansion, and winding, claustrophobic hallways filled with every manner of cute-and-cuddly nightmare, with each location highlighting the developers’ genuine fandom for classic horror titles.
Nearly every room contained a reference to gaming’s beloved survival-horror giants, paying homage in clever ways like replacing real-world paintings with puppet versions, including puzzles and key items straight out of the RPD, and even featuring the classic, red-handled bolt cutters made famous by Resident Evil 7 and ubiquitous in first-person horror titles since.
Everywhere I looked, I spotted cleverly crafted inclusions of classic elements I’ve adored throughout my gaming life. The further into the story I got, the more I realized how uniquely brilliant this indie title is. My Friendly Neighborhood is both a nostalgic trip down survival-horror memory lane and a fresh and engaging narrative all its own. The puppets each have their own distinct personalities, appearances, and voices that hearken back to childhood figures such as the Muppets, with one sounding nearly identical to Kermit the Frog and another spot-on like Elmo. This was no mistake mind you, as the developers had a clear vision of fusing the concepts of graphic horror entertainment with the innocence of classic children’s educational programming for a remarkably eerie and chilling experience.
The premise thrusts an ever-present moral dilemma on the player, tasking them with either attempting to understand the puppets, destroying each attacking hug monster with reckless abandon and a barrage of bouncing metal projectiles, or something else perhaps quite different. These decisions lead the narrative down branching paths that add depth and replayability, while also providing player agency, which is relatively unfamiliar territory for the survival-horror genre and a much-welcomed addition, in my opinion.
With multiple endings, a great deal of unlockable cheats such as infinite ammo, faster movement speed, invincibility, a slew of wacky animation changes, character-model swaps and more, I’ve already jumped back in for another run to see what else I’ll discover. The game even offers a rating system upon completion that unlocks additional content, just like the Resident Evil titles.
Fans of the genre will likely feel right at home with the puzzle design, as it blends resourceful key-item usage, inventive problem solving, and the necessity of a keen eye for environmental detail. From electrical wiring to art memorizing and scientific experiments, the number and variety of puzzles strike the perfect balance, breaking up pulse-pounding encounters with a brief reset before a new enemy type is introduced and shakes things up again. Fortunately, MFN has a great selection of weapons to handle any problem that can’t be solved with sheer brainpower.
When I was a kid, my mother always told me that the best way to win a fight was to use my words, and this game gave me the power to take that literally. The weapons are fashioned from articles of literature, rolodexes, and typewriters as their magazines and receivers, allowing each gun to fire metal letters at different rates of fire, levels of power and areas of effect. There’s even a throwable, hand-grenade-style weapon called “The Punctuation” that explodes into alphabetical chaos, sending letters bouncing around the room and destroying every enemy in sight! The arsenal is unique, brilliantly composed, and incredibly fun to use across all game modes.
My Friendly Neighborhood features multiple difficulty levels with unique rewards, an unlockable Speed Run mode, Free-Cam mode, a mode that adds jumping to Gordon’s repertoire, and even a mode that turns the player into a chicken for the duration of the experience, clucks and all! There’s also a horde mode titled Neighborhorde (playing just like Resident Evil 4: The Mercenaries meets C.O.D. Zombies), complete with unlockable maps, and player-characters each with their own movement style and speed, combat dialogue and efforts, and starting weapon/item loadout. Upon achieving the highest rank with each character, new surprises await the player in the campaign.
My Friendly Neighborhood may appear kid-friendly at first glance, but it doesn’t take long for the scares, the grim narrative, and the action to kick into overdrive. I’ll be returning again and again to 100% every mode, just as I’ve done with similar titles in the genre. There were very few bugs, and any I encountered almost felt intentional due to the irreverent nature of the game. There’s nothing notably “indie” about this game either, and if someone told me a AAA studio developed it, I’d believe them. If you love survival horror or any of the games I’ve mentioned above, do yourself a favor and give this one a try! As a longtime fan of the titles that inspired this game and a lifelong survival-horror enthusiast, I have to give this refreshing indie masterpiece a 10/10!
MFN is currently available on Xbox Series X|S (including Game Pass), PlayStation 5, and Steam.
