My Friendly Neighborhood Review: PBS meets Resident Evil

Mikey Yaden

July 28, 2025

Childlike wonder and laughter turn to horror and slaughter in My Friendly Neighborhood.

Originally released on PC back in July 2023, these puppets are now here to torment you on your consoles. The PS5 and Xbox Series ports have landed, with PS4 and Xbox One soon to follow.

What I found under the hood of this surreal survival horror was a dash of Resident Evil VII and a lot of Sesame Street, even though the puppets are the enemies.

This is survival horror, which means resources are scarce, so use your ammo wisely. Along with some neat guns, you have a wrench for melee, and while it’s better than nothing, that short melee range can be rough. Your three guns — the Rolodexer, Novelist, and Conclusion — all shoot letters at enemies. Gotta learn those ABCs somehow!

Punctuation is your grenade equivalent and helps with crowd control. One important resource, however, is tape. Taping up enemies keeps them restrained; they will still lie on the ground and not shut up, but in crowded corridors, it can make a big difference for areas you have to revisit continuously.

In this alternate universe, old pals crave purpose

My Friendly Neighborhood Image Credit: DreadXP.[/caption]

In this dark and melancholic world, constant televised war and evil corporations caused a massive rift and degradation of communities and the shared values of the people. The protagonist is a run-down repairman who may have served in the war, but the story leaves that part open for interpretation.

Overall, My Friendly Neighborhood is surprisingly one of the better survival horror games on the market, behind the big dogs.

I felt myself becoming sympathetic towards the puppets as I shot them with my Rolordexer or wacked them with the wrench. They sought purpose again, but they took over the broadcast tower, and Harry had to shut it down. The studio is a puzzle-packed labyrinth akin to the mansion or police station seen in Resident Evil games, even down to finding keys with different shapes to open doors.

Art style, voice acting, and soundtrack stick the landing

The presentation is fantastic, and the developers, art team, and composers nailed everything they set out to accomplish.

The graphics and art style really make the puppets look and act exactly how you think Muppets would, even if it is a tad spooky. The studio’s different areas look fantastic, even the areas between sets where you travel backstage — but beware…

Your inventory is very similar to Resident Evil 4’s attache case, and bless them for that. I love me a good inventory setup.

The voice acting is perfect. I mean, these puppets feel like the real deal. Walking down a dark area and hearing a puppet singing about all the tones you can sing and how to learn them was creepy every time. The jazzy music wonderfully complements the game.

If you ever wondered what would happen if PBS got the Spencer Mansion treatment, look no further, because this is the game you’ve been waiting for. Besides some slight frustration from inconsistent enemy detection and trying to gauge the range of puppet attacks, I don’t have any terrible things to say. The PS5 version was snappy and had fast load times, but the loading door animation got annoying very quickly. There were some frame dips in the plaza buildings, but it only happened a few times. Overall, this is a must-play for people who love survival horror or unsettling games. At $30, you get a great game that I wouldn’t deter anyone from buying.