'Greyhill Incident' — Everything UFO Enthusiasts Should Know

At a time when UFOs and UAP (unidentified anomalous phenomena) are becoming less taboo, Greyhill Incident is a reminder of their controversial history. Greyhill Incident is a video game about an alien invasion leaning on some of the oldest tropes in the urban mythology of UFOs. Here's what new players will want to know going in.

Greyhill Incident was released in June of 2023 and is available on PC as well as the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X. It is a roleplaying game relying heavily on stealth mechanics with some combat thrown in for good measure. It was created by the indie developer Refugium Games and released in partnership with publisher Perp Games. Many game critics listed this among their most anticipated new games of the year, which made it all the more surprising when it got generally negative reviews upon release.

Story

Greyhill Incident is set in the year 1992 in a fictional small town called Greyhill, and its premise has been compared to popular alien invasion movies like Signs or Independence Day. It also draws a lot of inspiration from The X-Files. Players take on the role of conspiracy theorist Ryan Baker, whose son was abducted by extraterrestrials. Baker must try to get his son back while evading capture himself and doing what he can for his community.

The aliens in this game are a fairly standard take on the "Grays" from many real-life UFO encounters. They have oversized, bald heads with flat noses and huge black eyes, as well as long fingers. They are approximately the same height as an average human and are depicted in this game wearing black bodysuits. The game plays on many age-old conspiracy theory tropes, with dialogue describing the aliens as green and references to abduction, experimentation and even probing.

Gameplay

The game consists mostly of small quests to help town residents survive the invasion while Baker looks for ways to get his son back. These missions often lean heavily on stealth, with players challenged to sneak between hiding places in town without being caught by the aliens. Players can unlock a hand crank flashlight to make traversal easier. Eventually, they can take the fight to these aliens with a baseball bat and a revolver. However, this is not a platformer or a fighting game – for the most part, players will simply act out the scenes as intended with little variation.

Abducted Edition

Greyhill Incident was a digital-only release in June, available on Steam for PC players and on the respective console stores for PlayStation and Xbox. However, about a month later Refugium released a physical copy for PlayStation 5 called the "Abducted Edition." It came with bonus content including a "found footage mode," where players can change the visual appearance to that of a 1990s camcorder. The "Abducted Collectors Edition" also comes with a physical newspaper clipping describing the events of the game and a manual for creating a real-life tinfoil hat. Physical copies for the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox are reportedly in development as well.

Reception

Critics came down hard on Greyhill Incident for its writing – particularly its dialogue, where voice actors were also under heavy scrutiny. Some also complained that the gameplay was tedious and repetitive, particularly the stealth mechanics which are so heavily used. Still, some positive reviews were published, and those praised the highly stylistic atmosphere working to contribute to a unified aesthetic. Some reviewers noted their own personal feelings towards UFOs as either a real-life mystery or a horror subgenre, and the UFO enthusiasts seemed more likely to enjoy the game.

For the average UFO hunter, results may vary. Greyhill Incident is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X.