Beyond Flesh and Blood

Here comes another horror-esque title that clawed its way into my life on Twitter, with a little bit of action and sci-fi thrown in. It also fancies itself as a fast-paced third-person shooter, driven by its story and a dollop of ‘gratuitous gore’ for good measure. I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. I’m talking about an independent game by Pixelbomb Games, which goes by the name Beyond Flesh and Blood.

Set on a dystopian Earth, and beginning in what is left of Manchester, UK, in the year 2281, you will have to fight through a world where dehumanisation and cybernetics go hand-in-hand with political instability and environmental disaster. If you’re from the UK, where people have recently been up in arms about having to pay 5p for a plastic bag at the supermarket, I’d like to think this really puts things into perspective.

You will have to use agile mechs to blast through “gore-filled levels” and blast apart hives of “grotesque” enemies. These enemies will have powerful weapons of their own, though, so expect to have your skills pushed to the limit. To keep on fighting the good fight, you will be able to upgrade your mech and new weapon systems, as well as use something called a Tactical Combat Frame to gain intel and solve puzzles.

Another interesting fact is that the studio have chosen real-life locations in Manchester, and then re-imagined them in a post-apocalyptic setting. And, was it just me, or did I hear you sigh when ‘horror’ and ‘action’ were used in the same sentence? Don’t worry, in addition to “being a tribute to Japanese mecha culture, Beyond Flesh and Blood aims to fully explore its narrative themes and enrich the shooter experience.” It’s definitely not all horror, but there’s nothing wrong with occasionally breaking up the constant tension and fear of horror gaming with some gory action.

If you agree – which you should, because I wrote everything so eloquently – you can find everything you need to know on Steam, Facebook and Twitter.