Skyhill is a survival horror rogue-like game developed by Daedalic and
Mandragora, and has been covered in a news article detailing its release in October. Now, it has been announced that the game will be getting its own
Livestream Mode on Twitch.tv from November 28th, allowing streamers and viewers
to experience the post-apocalyptic horror together.
In fact, the feature is already
available, as gamers will be able to test it out from now until November 27th
before the full launch the day after. “The new Livestream Mode lets players directly connect to Twitch via the
in-game menu, enabling game control via Twitch chat. This way, viewers can
influence the game and play together with the streamer.”
Not heard of Skyhill before? Gamers step into the penthouse suite of Skyhill
Hotel, where Perry was holed up, surviving World War III. Now he is venturing
outside of the suite and attempting to make his way out into the world, but
he’ll have to fight and scavenge his way through 100 floors of mutants to do so. This is the premise behind Skyhill, and each floor is procedurally-generated, meaning that
every streamer will be able to share a different experience with their viewers.
Any furthers update on
this feature, or anything else on Skyhill,
can be found on the official website, Steam, Facebook or Twitter. Happy streaming.
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Gamers may not have been alone in the dark for a while, but Frederick
Raynal, the creator of Alone in the Dark,
has been busy. Having set up his new studio, Gloomywood, Raynal and his team
have been developing a stealth horror title called 2Dark, aiming for an early 2016 release on PC.
In 2Dark gamers will sneak
through a “twisted and quirky 1970’s universe”, attempting to save kidnapped
children from the serial killers that stole them away. Based on the trailer
above, 2Dark shares a few
similarities with Hotline Miami games.
The game features a top-down view of a pixel-art environment, and there are a
few disturbing masks in the mix, too. It also appears that sound will be an
important focus for 2Dark, as each
movement sends out a ring around the player. Presumably, the faster they move,
the louder they are, and the more likely it is that the murderers will come a-running.
Other than what can be predicted from the trailer, a lot of 2Dark is still, well, in the dark.
Anyone that is excited by the premise of what they see can pre-purchase the game for €20 EUR (approximately $21.5 USD) and will be entered into beta. Be
warned, though, as the website is mainly in French, and Google Translate can
only do so much.
When more information is available, gamers are sure to find it at the
game’s website, or by “liking” the studio on Facebook and following the studio
on Twitter.
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I'm excited. I'm not just on board
the hype train for Protocol Games' Song
of Horror, I'm eating snacks from the first-class carriage. In this
third-person horror, described as a return to the classic horror of Resident Evil and Silent Hill, with 16 playable characters and permadeath, it is hard
not to be. Even more so when it delivers on everything it promises in its Kickstarter campaign.
In the press demo I played, Daniel Noyer,
the game’s main character, has travelled to Husher Mansion, where renowned
writer Sebastian P. Husher lives. Daniel works as the Assistant to the Sales
Director at Wake Publishing, responsible for publishing Husher’s writing. The
only problem is that Husher hasn't answered the phone in weeks. Daniel was sent
to find out why. Finding the front door ajar, he heads inside, and promptly
regrets the whole thing.
Standing in the hallway, I couldn't
help but notice that the game was visually impressive, and the unnerving
ambient music emphasised what was to come. The shadows played their part, too.
Protocol Games has perfected the game's lighting, and shadows lie in wait
everywhere you look, potentially hiding things you won't want to
find. Torch shining into the darkness, I already didn't want to take a
step forward.
The camera angles used are pulled
straight from classic horror games, and always have you wondering what is
waiting just out of the screen. These camera angles are also used to great
effect when listening through a door, which Daniel can do before going through,
if you so desire. Not only is the feature quite powerful in its own right (what
might you hear?), but the camera closes in on the player. As they listen, the
half of the screen behind them is empty, and they're left wondering if
something is on its way to fill it. This is how classic horror works, both in
games and movies, and it's refreshing to see it done so well in a modern game.
Adding to this sense of unease, and
to the game's narrative, are notes and drawings found around the mansion. These
include disturbing children's drawings, creepy haikus, and letters between
people, giving the player an idea of what took place before they arrived. In
addition, little references show the studio's love for horror. For example, a
piano is branded with "Himuro," which is clearly a reference to
Himuro Mansion, a real-life location just outside of Tokyo, said to be haunted,
and then made famous as the setting of Fatal
Frame.
That isn't to say that Song of Horror borrows everything from
the old classics; far from it.
The game will have 16 playable
characters upon release, and with permadeath in place, any of these 16
characters could die, taking the narrative along a different path. I didn't get
to experience this in the early build, but I still discovered something
new.
In some horror games, once you've
been scared by something once, you won't be scared by it again, should you
revisit or replay an area. Not so in Song
of Horror. Even if you revisit an area, the scares may change. One small
room had already scared me once, when a ghostly hand reached through the door
behind me. Having already seen this, I was ready for it. Nothing happened.
Thinking I'd bested the room, I went to leave, only to be startled out of my
arrogance by two booming knocks on the door. It was plain cruel. Fortunately,
that's exactly what I want from horror.
I was sent into yet another
unexpected panic when the walls began to ooze and rot, and I was told to
"run or hide." The soundtrack ramped up and added to my blind terror.
I ran through the house, found a table, and crouched beneath it until the house
turned to normal. Well, as normal as Song
of Horror gets. Not even a minute later I walked through a kitchen and
listened at a door. I heard scratching. Curious, I opened the door and was
enveloped by "The Presence," a dark entity that swallowed Daniel into
its blackness and left me with a message: “Daniel did not make it...” I hadn’t
survived. With 16 characters, this might not have been too much of an issue,
but as Daniel is the main character, and the only character in the early build,
dying meant failure.
Though I may have failed, I am
struggling to think of an area where Song
of Horror did. My laptop struggled with it, and there were a lot of keys to
remember, but that all comes down to the fact that I’m not a natural PC gamer,
and neither my laptop nor my key memory is up to scratch. Controller support is
available, though, and I’d be using my Steam AlphaWare to play the final game.
Problem solved.
It may be early in development, but
I'm really excited by Song of Horror.
I mean, I already was, but having played it, I can see that Protocol Games is
really onto something. If you haven't already, I recommend - nay, beg - that
you check out the game's Kickstarter campaign. If you've been wanting to return
to the days of suspenseful camera angles, an interesting narrative and clever
scares, Song of Horror is how you get
there. In my opinion, this game needs to
happen. It will be good for horror gamers, and potentially even good for the
genre as a whole. Keep up to date with everything you need to know by heading
to thewebsite, Facebook or Twitter. Just do it.
NeocoreGames just announced The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut, a compilation of all three titles that will bring over 50 hours of gothic-noir steampunk action-RPG to Steam.
In The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, gamers explore Borgovia, a gothic land of “monsters, magic and weird science.” They do so using one of six playable classes with different professions, ranging from “steel and gun” to magic and science, and are able to use these skills to fight off creatures with their own tailored style. Players will also be able to build their own hideout, defend it with a tower-defense mini game, take part in daily or weekly quests and challenges, and join others in co-op and PvP multiplayer modes.
Alongside bringing all three of the games together, NeocoreGames has also added an endgame for more replayability. Gamers that reach level 100 will progressfurther and experience a “Glory system, rare items and two types of endgame currency.” Zoltan Pozsonyi, Producer at NeocoreGames stated that “Final Cut is more than simply all three games bundled together: we created new content and put a ton of thought and detail into how to tie each game into one another.”
More information on this gothic ARPG can be found on the website, Facebook or Twitter, and the game can be purchased on Steam for $44.99 USD.
Getting déjà vu right now? That may be because you read this on IGM, where my article was first featured! Check IGM out for all the latest on indie games.
Beware, gamers. Jason Voorhees has been unleashed.
On Friday the 13th, with some perfect timing, Gun Media's Friday the 13th: The Game was successfully Kickstarted. The
campaign was aiming for $700,000 USD and reached $823,704 USD, meaning that
backers not only unleashed Jason upon Camp Crystal Lake, but they unleashed a
few stretch goals, too.
In case anyone missed IGM's Fridaythe 13th news, here's the lowdown. Friday
the 13th: The Game, formerly known as Summer
Camp before merging with the slasher franchise, is an asymmetric online 7v1
multiplayer. Seven players control counsellors, each with their own stats and
abilities, which progress over time. While they're doing their best to fight,
escape and survive, one player hunts them down as Jason, with his own set of
skills for picking them off one-by-one, just like in the movies.
Thanks to the backers behind the Kickstarter campaign, the game will
have a few extra surprises from the movies, too; namely, well-known kills. Upon
reaching $700,000 USD, the famous sleeping bag kill was unlocked, followed
shortly after by stretch goal additions such as a mirror smash, head crush and
ripping hearts from chests. Jason, of course, is no stranger to any of
these.
“We already had funding to make the original concept of the game,’ said
Gun studio head and co-creator Wes Keltner. ‘The moment we became Friday
the 13th: The Game, we knew we had a responsibility to give every
single Friday the 13th fan (ourselves included), the game
we’ve all been waiting for. To do that, Kickstarter was the answer, and fans
have delivered!”
Friday the 13th: The Game is being developed for PC, Xbox
One and PlayStation 4, for release in Fall, 2016. Those that backed $40 USD or
more can expect to join the beta, though there is no date for when this may be
ready. More information can be found on the website, Facebook or Twitter. For
those interested in all things Friday the
13th: The Game, don't go too far; Jason has a way of coming back.
Once upon a time, a boy named Hans lived near the woods with
his mother. It was his birthday, but they were so poor that he did not receive
any gifts. Upset, Hans left home to find adventure, taking only his grandfather’s,
a bit of cheese, and three pieces of gold. Come nightfall, Hans wanted nothing
more than to be at home. While trying to find his way back, he crossed paths
with a kobold (a spirit of German mythology), and was tempted into following it
back to Tenebre castle, where he was told he could become rich. All he had to
do was guess the name of the kobold. In The
Count Lucanor, a fantasy-horror adventure being developed by Baroque Decay,
gamers will join Hans in his journey through this castle, as he tries to
uncover the truth on PC, Mac and Linux.
Inside Tenebre castle, players can expect visuals that the
studio describes as “halfway between 8 and 16-bit style,” and gameplay inspired
by games like The Legend of Zelda, Silent Hill and Dark Souls. Hans can place candles on the ground for light, talk to
characters for clues, collect items to solve puzzles and even hide under tables
or behind curtains in order to escape danger. All of the above will lead to one
of a few possible endings, and will feature a chiptune soundtrack from composer
Johann Sebastian Bach.
The Count Lucanor
does not yet have a release date, but the studio is aiming for the first
quarter of 2016. At launch, the game will be available on PC, Mac and Linux in
English, French and Spanish, with more platforms and languages possible if the
game is successful. The studio also hinted that it is almost ready to move onto
the beta stage of testing, and will be on the lookout for beta testers.
More information on Baroque Decay’s horror adventure can be
found on the website, the Steam page, or by following the studio on Twitter. Fingers
crossed that readers have enough Hans for all of that.
Getting déjà vu right now? That may be because you read this on IGM, where my preview was first featured! Check IGM out for all the latest on indie games.
With a bit of love
from Russia, Prelude Games Factory want to welcome gamers into a world that is
cast into endless shadows of endless darkness, in the form of a gothic horror
MMORPG called Dogma: Eternal Night.
While the world of
Dogma may look similar to our own (with the lights turned off), there is a key
difference: vampires, werewolves and ghosts exist, along with a number of other
supernatural beings. In this MMO world, players will be able to create their own
character of customisable appearance and skill set. The latter will not be
affected by class or level restrictions, either, which is often the case with
games of the MMO genre.
Adding a sense of
fear in losing this character is the possibility of permadeath, forcing players
to consider their choices before taking action, lest they send their customised
characters to an early grave. These actions can then have an effect on the
world, though whether for the better or worse is yet to be seen. Live
in-games events will also bring players together, along with characters from
the main narrative, and provide them with options for player-vs-player and
player-vs-environment scenarios.
Prelude Games
Factory is a "studio that consists of gamers. [They] believe it's a great
opportunity... to share [their] passion for games with people all across the
world,” and they plan to do just this when a Kickstarter campaign for Dogma:
Eternal Night is launched on November 24th.
More information
can be found on the game's website, or by heading over to Facebook or Twitter.
Then, on November 24th, gamers will be able to take part in bring
this gothic horror to reality on Kickstarter.
Getting déjà vu right now? That may be because you read this on IGM, where my preview was first featured! Check IGM out for all the latest on indie games.
A little while back, IGM covered Song of Horror, a survival horror from
Madrid-based studio, Protocol Games. Firstly, it was to show off some gameplay,
followed by the launch of a Kickstarter campaign – which unfortunately did not
reach its funding goal. Fast forward to November 2015 and a press release was
sent our way with two interesting focus points for the game: 16 playable
characters and permadeath. Now it has a third; the Kickstarter campaign has
been relaunched, and the studio is looking to raise €50,000 EUR, €5,000 of
which was pledged within 24 hours of launch.
Song of Horror contains "no
weapons, no traditional enemies, and no typical combat." What it does
contain is several chapters, each exploring a different part of the overarching
narrative mystery. This mystery centres on Daniel, a man whose life has been
turned upside down by something known as "The Presence," said to toy
with players like a "predator toys with its prey."
The game is being developed by a studio that "grew up with the
[original] Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Fatal Frame titles," so it
is hoping to bring back the "old-school vibe" with its horror and
create something that provides a similarly memorable experience to the
"classical masterpieces." Inspiration is also being drawn from Edgar
Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, and the Kickstarter refers to its scares as
"Eldritch, primeval horror."
Protocol Games is trying to keep its feet firmly on the ground, no
matter how well the Kickstarter is doing so far. Something similar happened in
June, before funding halted and the campaign was unsuccessful, so it is trying
to get Song of Horror in front of as
many people as it can, because in Kickstarter, "visibility is the key to
success."
More information on Song of Horror
can be found on the website, or on the Kickstarter, where a pledge of at least
€17 EUR nabs a copy of the game when it is released, and gamers can choose
their platform of choice, from PC, Mac, Linux, Steam, PlayStation 4 or Xbox
One. Maybe even get a little social on Facebook or Twitter.
Getting déjà vu right now? That may be because you read this on IGM, where my preview was first featured! Check IGM out for all the latest on indie games.
A new
horror game has been announced, all the way from Poland, along with a playable
demo and a Kickstarter campaign (which seems to have since been cancelled only three hours ago due to a new partnership with a publisher). It
is all kicking off for UndeadScout's Husk,
a first-person adventure with survival horror elements that aim to explore the
most basic human fears.
In
Husk, players will control a man who
has lost everything. He wakes up in a hospital with no idea of how he got there,
and explores dark corridors for signs of other people. UndeadScout are aiming
for a horror experience that is almost “old-fashioned,” with players needing to
search for supplies, solve puzzles, and fight off opponents. The narrative will
be a key focus of the game, and how Husk ends
will also depend on the decisions made throughout.
Music
is always a significant part of Husk,
as the studio feel that “music should be a standalone work of art and, almost by itself, tell a
story.” Ensuring that the soundtrack can accomplish this is Filip Nowicki, a
composer that has previously worked on African
Dawn, Dimiria: Agrarian Falls,
and also taken part in master classes taught by the composers behind Bioshock and Forbidden Warrior. To experience this soundtrack so far, try out
the gameplay teaser available from the Kickstarter campaign, where the studio
were aiming to raise at least £15,000 GBP (approx. $23,000 USD), with stretch
goals that included VR support and console releases.
More
information on Husk can be found at
the website and Kickstarter campaign, which has been cancelled since I first
wrote this article on IGM, in favour of a more traditional deal with a publisher. You can still keep up with everything going
on with Husk by keeping an eye on the
studio's Facebook or Twitter.
Halloween may be over, but luckily, that doesn't
mean the horror has to end. Despite its name, The Last Door wasn't the last of this episodic point-and-click
pixel-horror adventure, as The Game Kitchen has just announced Season 2 for PC,
Mac and Linux, coming in early 2016. Not heard of The Last Door? Read about Season 1.
While the first season focused on Jeremiah Devitt, who went in search of
his missing friend after receiving a letter, Season 2 will focus on Dr. John
Wakefield, his psychiatrist. He, however, is going in search of his missing
client, because he's clearly worth whatever Devitt was paying him. Of course,
Dr. Wakefield is then drawn towards the same mysteries and conspiracies that Devitt
has disappeared into, bringing all-new episodic scares along with them.
The studio has said that Season 2 will bring "a much bigger map to
explore, with more characters, more puzzles, and more mysteries to solve than
the previous season, which means more gameplay time." All of which will be
accompanied by a new soundtrack, composed by Carlos Viola.
The Last Door:
Season 2 may not be fully released until early 2016, but Episode 1, "The
Playwright", is available on Steam Early Access for $7.99 USD. Or, for
those still needing to experience Season 1, the Collector's Edition (four episodes, plus bonus content), is
available now on PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android. More information on all of
the above can be found on the game's website, or by following the studio on
Facebook or Twitter.
Getting déjà vu right now? That may be because you read this on IGM, where my preview was first featured! Check IGM out for all the latest on indie games.
Right in the middle of Anslem village stands a 17th
century mansion. It is rumored to be cursed, and is connected to many
disappearances. Of course, when it comes to real estate, the place is a steal,
and is quickly listed for sale. During a final check of the mansion, the estate
agent discovers a letter that says "HELP ME" over and over. At the
bottom, it says “Send this to 5 people or else...” So begins visual horror
novel, The Letter, the debut PC game
from Yangyang Mobile, recently launched on Kickstarter with a playable demo.
The Letter will be told from
the points of view of six playable characters, and the studio wants to make
sure that each character is unique, even down to "the way they talk and
the way they approach things." These characters, and therefore the player,
can expect to face a number of different "psychological thriller and jump
scares," leading them to doubt their own sanity and the horrors they see
around them.
There are six chapters to the game, with 12 short-term endings and 5
long-term endings, and the ending the player sees will depend on which
characters survive. Trying to cut these lives short are quick-time events,
which will be life-or-death, leading players down one of the different paths.
The studio has said that The
Letter is inspired by Japanese horror films such as Ju-On (The Grudge) and Ringu (The Ring). Aiding the game in reaching this level of fear is the
game's original score, planning to "send chills down [players']
spines." Give the main theme a listen here.
For gamers ready to read The Letter and begin their visual horror
novel, more information can be found on the website, or by heading to
Kickstarter, where the game needs help reaching its goal of $30,000 USD.
Feeling social? Head to Facebook or Twitter. Getting déjà vu right now? That may be because you read this on IGM, where my preview was first featured! Check IGM out for all the latest on indie games.
