Philosophy
Hell is Others is inspired by a Jean-Paul Sartre quote: "hell is other people". For the french author, merely looking at each other is a violent act that every person inflicts on another. He states that hell is on earth because a person feels violated by other people.
Starting from this point of view, the game's most frightening, dangerous, and devious enemies are the other players (the Others).
But at the same time, HIO is a critique of the philosopher's thought. In other people's gaze, the subject is projecting their fears and their vision about the world.
Maybe, as stated by another philosopher, Levi-Strauss, hell is not outside but inside every person. And that's the reason why in the game, every Other is, in fact, Adam Smithson, the protagonist.
Every day, Adam wakes up knowing that he will be fighting against the Others and, at the same time, against himself.
He is obsessed with thriving and finding the truth, which inevitably translates to a constant need for blood.
Narrative Background
The world of HIO is suspended in time and space. It is made of the same matter that nightmares are made of, and it confines its inhabitants in an endless sleep.
Everything is ruled by cyclicality and repetition. Everything seems to be made to confuse and disorient, and everyone seems to be stuck in an open-eye unconscious state, kind of a dream.
At the beginning of the story, Adam wakes up in that dream, and like everyone who is sleeping and dreaming, he doesn't realize it. Everything he sees and does feel normal to him. Even if it's surreal and monstrous, it is their daily routine. In this miserable place, bullets grow in nature, and the primary resource is blood.
Century City
Century City is the city in which the events of HIO are set. Century it's not only a place. It is also a point in time. To be more precise, it's not even a place or a moment in time. It's a mix of every time and places of the 20th century. It looks like the 50s in the 80s, but there are elements from all the last century's decades. Yet, Century City is frozen in an endless night.
At the beginning of the story, the city is desolate, and its inhabitants seem hostile and unfriendly. But as time goes by — and thanks to Adam taking blood from the creatures in the city and giving it back to the city economy — Century will prosper and gain a macabre glory.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/964440/Hell_is_Others/