It Has My Face — you’re the monster now (or maybe your own worst enemy)

TL;DR

It Has My Face is a gutsy, weird little horror roguelite that trades polish for paranoia. It’s more anxious giggle than outright terror—some jump scares land, most of the tension comes from “Oh god, which one is me?” moment. Early Access means jank, balance issues, and missing polish, but also potential. If you like bleeding-edge indie creepshows, play it; if you want a seamless classic scare ride, maybe wait until 1.0.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPZGypaE8yU

Imagine you’re at a masquerade ball. Except the masks are your own face. And one of the guests wants to kill you. That’s It Has My Face in a nutshell — a first-person horror roguelite where your clone lurks among NPCs, blending in, stalking you, and waiting for you to make the wrong move.

Scare Factor

Don’t expect Outlast-level terror. The game leans heavily into psychological dread, not constant screaming. There are jump scares (especially when your clone reveals itself suddenly in a crowd), but many of the tension peaks are quieter: footsteps behind you, a flicker of someone who looks just too similar, the dread that your ammo is low and one wrong shot kills you. The paranoia is its weapon.That said, because you often interact with crowds, sometimes nothing happens — and that anticlimax undercuts fear. It's like holding your breath for a minute and nothing collapsing; effective at first, but exhausting after several runs.

Atmosphere & Immersion

The visuals are absurd-blocky, dystopian, slightly uncanny — think Minecraft meets The Thing. Not overwhelming, but enough to unsettle if you squint.

The soundtrack does heavy lifting: ambient hums, distant echoes, sudden silences that feel louder than any scream. NPC chatter, footsteps, and spatial audio help. Some maps drag — pacing sometimes feels like it’s in molasses. A run can linger too long in “search crowd” mode before something happens.Early Access glitches and clipping can break immersion (NPCs overlapping, visual stutters) — occasional reminder you're playing something still in the oven.

Monster / Enemy Design

Your clone is the star villain: no skinless demon, no tentacles, just you. That’s the point — the horror comes from self-recognition. When it moves, reveals itself, or makes small deviations from your own posture, it’s unsettling. Other threats (in later runs) promise biological horrors, but in the current version they’re generic and partially teased. If you’re looking for grotesque monsters, this isn’t it. If you want subtle uncanny, this handles that well.

Story & Writing

In its current state, story is a skeleton of whispers and hints: why clones, what dystopia, what experiments? Enough intrigue to make you poke deeper, but not enough to feel satisfied on its own. The writing leans cryptic — in a “read between the lines or die” way, rather than delivering full narrative payoffs yet.I suspect in future updates the lore will deepen, but for now the story is more ambiance than plot.

Gameplay vs Fear

This is where the magic (and the frustration) lies. The core mechanic — scan crowds, detect your clone, find weapons, manage ammo — is clever. Your power is limited: you can’t just waltz and shoot; every shot, every choice costs. You’re often the powerless one, playing hide-and-seek with yourself.But balance issues creep in: sometimes you spawn far from tools, or the crowd layout makes spotting impossible. There are mutators (e.g. total darkness, forced hairstyle changes) to shake things up.

Because it’s roguelite, failure is expected. But repeated runs with little variance can feel repetitive.

Replayability & Variety

Strong on that front. Procedurally generated maps, randomized AI behavior, weapon / item placement changes each run. The game includes an “Invasion” mode (endless mode) in Early Access and a multiplayer 1v1 mode already.

Mutators and random effects (darkness, NPCs with knives, misdirection) spice things up.

But until more enemy types and narrative chapters are added, variation can feel limited after dozens of runs.

Length & Pacing

Each run is medium-length (not a 2-minute scare but not a 4-hour epic either). The pacing fluctuates: early minutes are slow, scanning and suspicion, middle is tension build-up, final chase or reveal is intense. But too often the middle drags, as nothing seems urgent until suddenly it is. Given Early Access, you may find runs that are painfully long because map generation is suboptimal or the clone hides too cunningly.

Performance & Stability

On my rig (mid-tier PC) I saw occasional frame drops, NPC clipping, and hiccups when many entities are on screen. Not game-breaking so far, but enough to yank you out of the terror. Steam page warns it’s Early Access.

Positive: Steam Deck Verified, native Linux support as reported.

So it’s not strictly PC-bound.Expect more polish in future patches; this version is a bit rough around the edges.

Multiplayer / Co-op

Already has a 1v1 multiplayer mode in Early Access, where you and a friend effectively play hide-and-seek clones.

It’s promising. But multiplayer horror is tricky: fear is diluted when you share. Here, the shared stress of “which one is me?” might work, though I think true terror remains stronger in solo mode.There’s talk of future modes in development.

Verdict

It Has My Face is not yet a perfect horror gem — it’s a raw, ambitious experiment. Think indie film shot on 16mm: flawed, gritty, but with moments that haunt you. If you’re a horror lover who doesn’t mind rough edges, this is a fascinating ride. If you demand polish and consistency, maybe wait until 1.0. But you won’t regret playing it now — you’ll get that uneasy, “is that me?” feeling nobody else offers.

CRIMENET tip: go in expecting to be the villain — because here, heroes are overrated. The scariest monster is the one in your own mirror.

FAQ

Q: Is It Has My Face scary enough to make me not sleep tonight? A: Probably more “anxious staring at the wall” than “screaming under covers.” If you're sensitive to uncanny faces and psychological dread, yes — it’ll hiss in your brain. If you need chainsaw hordes, you’ll be disappointed.

Q: Can I play multiplayer with friends now? A: Yes — there’s a 1v1 mode in Early Access. You and your clone hunt each other among crowds. But the fear factor is higher when it’s just you vs your shadow.

Q: Does It Has My Face have many endings or replay incentives? A: There’s procedural generation, mutators, and an endless mode already. More enemy types, story chapters, and modes are planned. So yes — it leans hard into replay.

Q: Does the demo give a full impression, or is the full game very different? A: The Early Access adds more story chapters, Invasion mode, multiplayer, and more content over what the demo had. But some core systems, visuals, and atmosphere remain consistent with the demo.

Q: What kind of PC do I need — will my potato machine run it? A: Minimum is mid-tier: the demo specs demand ~GTX 970 equivalents and 8 GB RAM. There are stutters even on decent machines in crowded scenes, so don’t expect butter-smooth frames everywhere — but it’s playable.

Q: Will the clone always win, or do I have a fair shot? A: You absolutely have a chance — weapons, strategy, crowd-reading matter. But the game is designed to punish overconfidence and mistakes. And sometimes, RNG will bite you. That’s part of the charm (or frustration).