Harold Halibut review: this stop motion sci-fi life aquatic won’t be for everyone

A wonderfully handcrafted game, but you'll need to persevere.

Harold Halibut review; two characters look at a diver
(Image: © Future / Slow Bros)

Our Verdict

A creative, handmade marvel that can be a chore, but Harold Halibut can also be beautifully weird, subtle and inventive. Ultimately this game rewards those willing to stick with it to the end.

For

  • Inventive 3D stop motion visuals
  • An engaging story told with care
  • Atmospheric synth soundtrack

Against

  • Too much fetch-questing

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Harold Halibut: details

Harold Halibut review; a man sits on a bed

(Image credit: Future / Slow Bros)

Publisher Slow Bros.
Developer Slow Bros.
Players 1
Platforms PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X / S, PC
Release 16 April

Your love for Harold Halibut depends on how deeply you become invested in Slow Bros’ inventive, handmade claymation-alike world of drudgery. It’s a gamble ten years in the making, to create a stylish Wes Anderson-meets-Aardman-world and reduce it to fetch quests and monologues. Harold isn’t your typical hero and his life as a handyman running to and fro for a cast of passive aggressive do-gooders and high achievers can feel laborious. 

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The Verdict
7.5

out of 10

Harold Halibut review: this stop motion sci-fi life aquatic won’t be for everyone

A creative, handmade marvel that can be a chore, but Harold Halibut can also be beautifully weird, subtle and inventive. Ultimately this game rewards those willing to stick with it to the end.

Editor, Digital Arts & 3D

Ian Dean is Editor, Digital Arts & 3D at Creative Bloq, and the former editor of many leading magazines. These titles included ImagineFX, 3D World and video game titles Play and Official PlayStation Magazine. Ian launched Xbox magazine X360 and edited PlayStation World. For Creative Bloq, Ian combines his experiences to bring the latest news on digital art, VFX and video games and tech, and in his spare time he doodles in Procreate, ArtRage, and Rebelle while finding time to play Xbox and PS5.