El Hijo – A Wild West Tale
The son strikes true
Cute’ and ‘stealth’ might not go naturally together, but this combines the two with such pizzazz it feels natural. Following a young boy on a quest to find his mother, El Hijo presents an easy-to-follow narrative that’s not afraid to touch on some heavy themes despite its endearing and colourful visual style.1
The mechanics are wonderfully simple, with changes introduced at a good pace. Switching from distracting enemies with wind-up toys to shooting locks on shutters with your trusty slingshot so you can climb up to rooftops will have you feeling like a tiny, adorable stealth master in no time. You can even pull off a Metal-Gear-Solid-like cardboard box manoeuvre by hiding beneath a comically oversized sombrero.2 The game’s pervasive youthfulness really adds to the fun.
Despite its simplicity, El Hijo is surprisingly robust, and Honig Studios manages to inject enough variation that it doesn’t get at all stale, which is a testament to its strong level design. While you’ll be navigating around monks and bandits for the most part, you’ll also find yourself using hiding spots to power through a sandstorm, sneaking past very good but not very friendly dogs, and even whizzing around in a minecart.
Readapting the central motif can make the music a little repetitive, but not distractingly so, and the rest of the sound design is great. Whistling and random chatter add a sense of vibrancy to your human obstacles and your own clattering and scampering noises have a detection radius reminding you to keep it on the down-low.
El Hijo is a fun and heartfelt stealth adventure sure to put a smile on your face.
FOOTNOTES 1 Featuring some top-tier cow design. These are some of the cutest cattle in gaming. 2 Having an actual sombrero button is joyfully silly.