At this year’s annual PAX West show in Seattle, the lineup for horror-related content was in rare form, with one of the strongest showings of any year so far, where we got to play nearly twenty unreleased horror titles, from big to small, and got to chat with developers and publishers about nitty gritty details on their upcoming projects.

In no particular order, we’ll start with the games we were able to check out and our overall impressions, beginning with a highly-anticipated title from some early Silent Hill and Siren alumni, Slitterhead.

Slitterhead

With several Silent Hill veterans working on the project, this one had been on our radar for a while, but finally getting some time to play for ourselves gave a more clear impression of how the game is shaping up, compared to the recent trailers that had been released. The game focuses on the body-swapping mechanics that are featured in most of the footage, but after getting to play it, there’s a ton of other elements that come into play and manage to all blend in a satisfying way, which I was not expecting.

Aside from the body-swapping, you’ll also encounter more horror chase segments, the return of Sightjacking from the Siren series (it’s even called that by name,) and Souls-like combat encounters, all coming together with a mysterious narrative that keeps you wanting to know more.  The combat mechanics took a little time to get used to, and there’s a lot to learn, but it all fell into place by the end of my thirty minutes with the game, and I’m personally anticipating this one when it releases on November 8th.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster

Next up is getting full access to the preview build for the remaster of the original classic Dead Rising, which was an absolute blast. The game looks fantastic and plays/runs better than ever before, with a whole suite of updated features and quality of life improvements that make the experience better across the board, without changing the core or tone of the game. We asked a lot of questions to the folks at Capcom who have had more time to dive into the builds and who are privy to some yet-to-be-released info about the game to dig deep into what we can expect from this release.

Improvements like extra save slots and the ability to save in different modes, the ability to fast-forward in-game time at certain points, ability to skip survivor conversations, lots of new costumes and magazines in game (including some Resident Evil crossover outfits,) improved survivor AI, revamped visuals from the ground up, new voice acting, and several other features all make this a package that fans of Dead Rising won’t want to miss when it drops in a few weeks.

Clock Tower: Rewind

Getting hands-on time with the new remastered and translated version of the Super Famicom classic was pretty exciting for me, as I’ve been a fan of the game since the 1990s and have been dying to see how they’re updating this release. I was definitely not disappointed, as this package presents two different versions of the original game, where you can play it just as it was on the original Super Famicom release, plus the Rewind mode, which adds back in all of the new content that was put in for the PS1 release titled The First Fear, as well as a few quality of life improvements and some save state features.

Since I’ve played the original game’s different versions many times over, I also took some of my time with Rewind to look into the new bonus features added for this remaster, outside of the normal game, and there’s a treasure trove of fantastic extra content included here. The extras run the gamut from the gorgeous new opening animation that was created for the game, which includes a new theme song sung by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, plus a lot of other great features like a long interview with the director, Hifumi Kono, motion comic adaptations (and translations) of the original prologue manga released for the game in 1995, a playable copy of the store kisok demo that was available around the time of release, and several other very nice features to round out the extras.

Fans of the game will be very happy with the amount of care and content included with this release when it releases later this year (dates will vary per region.)

Corpse Party II: Darkness Distortion

Corpse Party II is an official new chapter in the series, and only the third game in the long-running series to be rendered in full 3D, which is a nice direction, since many of the titles are either visual novels or 2D RPG-style games with no real survival horror mechanics.

In my time with the game, I was thrust into exploring an abandoned hospital with a group of young girls who start being haunted by strange sounds, phone calls, and dead bodies appearing around them, all featuring the typical gross-out body horror that the series is known for. The story also attempts to bring live streamer culture into the mix, with one of the characters being a streamer herself, and acting appropriately absurd in the name of “getting content,” which the game also pokes fun at in its own way, amidst the slow-paced horror exploration.

I’m glad there’s another 3D entry in the series coming, since 2016’s Blood Drive and it’s pseudo-sequel, Corpse Party 2: Dead Patient (different from this CPII) were a nice change for the series, and this one looked to be potentially more fleshed-out than the others, so we’ll be keeping an eye out, as it’s set for release by the end of 2024, without a final date set as of now.

WayForward’s RetroRealms: Halloween and Ash vs. Evil Dead

After years of already working on this project, it was announced just a two weeks ago that the Halloween and Ash vs. Evil Dead franchises would be getting brand new, new retro-inspired video games, created by the masters at WayForward, and they’ll be releasing this October 18th. The initial trailers left me having lots of unanswered questions and uncertainty of how these games would actually play and how they’d tie into their respective series’ histories. All of those questions and more were answered when I got a full hour to sit down with the folks at Boss Team Games and WayForward to play and discuss the games, the movies, and everything in between, and I’ve come away from the experience fully convinced that these games will be a blast for classic 2D action fans who also love these horror franchises.

Even though they are releasing as separate games, the option to purchase them together is available, and owning both games opens up tons of new gameplay options and content in each game, including being able to use characters from one franchise in the other’s game, including unique dialogue and story to go with those crossover options. As far as the gameplay, these played closely to the early Castlevania games, with more of a focus on action versus exploration, even though there are unique collectibles in each stage for each character, but there’s no open world-style backtracking like the later post-SOTN Castlevania games or Simon’s Quest. The controls felt snappy and tight across the board, and each character felt unique to one another, including having unique sub-weapons and abilities for each, and it made for a great approach to doing these horror crossovers in a way that feels like some care was put into the experience.

The story for each game is unique, and RetroRealms is essentially an over-arching side-narrative universe that doesn’t directly tie into the canon of the films or TV series, but rather serves as a place for all these characters to come together in fun ways, but that steers clear of meddling with any particular established storylines in any egregious way. There was a lot of talk between us and some hints that there’s some other future games planned for the RetroRealms universe that will also all tie back into these first two games, and they’re in the works of figuring out which horror icons they’ll be able to give a similar treatment to next.

Color me excited for the start of a new franchise that’s showing love for some of our favorite horror worlds in a new and fresh way without the expectation of a modern, more realistic take on the IPs, and I’ve got confidence that any fans of 2D side-scrollers who are also horror fans will get a huge kick out of these games. We’ll be doing a full review when the games launch this October, so keep an eye out for more coverage as the release date gets closer.

Ender Magnolia

Next up is Ender Magnolia, the sequel to Ender Lilies, which ended up being one of my favorite Metroidvania style games of the last several years, so to say I was excited to try out the most recent build of its follow-up would be an understatement. Though the game has been out in Early Access on Steam for a few months, the build we got access to was further along than what’s publicly available right now.

The time I got to spend with Ender Magnolia introduced me to some of the differences that make it stand out from its predecessor, including some changes in the general aesthetic and setting it takes place in, with a much less medieval feel, and something that approaches a little more modern, steampunk-ish vibe overall. The changes were a little strange at first, but soon the gameplay and the gorgeous visuals started to remind me of why I like this series so much.

I found myself wanting to play more as I was exploring the world that the game offered and started learning new systems and gameplay elements, and it made for a great experience that left me wanting to play the final version once the developers are confident enough to launch the full release.

Little Nightmares III

Getting time for some hands-on with Little Nightmares III was a treat, especially since the game is now being developed by a favorite of ours, SuperMassive Games (Until Dawn, The Dark Pictures Anthology) and what I got to play did not disappoint, especially the new co-op features that allow you to play with other players online to have a unique experience similar to the Dark Pictures games’ online modes.

The aesthetics and gameplay feel right in line with what we’ve come to expect from the previous Little Nightmares games, where the dark fairy-tale setting allows for some unique puzzle-platformer gameplay, and it’s a style that I am always up to play more of, as long as the standard of quality stays up to what the previous games were able to accomplish. I’m excited to see the further updates that come as the development presses on towards its release next year, and I can’t wait to try it out when it releases.

The Killing Antidote

Made by a small team of two people, The Killing Antidote is a game that’s close to the Resident Evil remakes in structure and aesthetics, but the environment/sound design works even better in some ways, and the gameplay has a great balance of resource management and combat, where melee combat is very useful and a viable option to avoid using ammo for guns, but it comes with its own risks. Some elements of this very early version of the game feel better tuned for hardcore horror fans than even what the RE remakes were able to accomplish, which is quite impressive coming from such a small team.

There’s an element of character cosmetics customization that’s never quite been a thing in the RE games, and something you don’t see too often in survival horror games, for those who are into those elements. I was able to play an early build of the game for around an hour, and if the rest of the game continues to shape up similarly to what I was able to play, this will definitely be one to watch out for if you’re a fan of indie takes on the Resident Evil remake style. They’re planning to launch into early access this October, and you can wishlist and follow the game on Steam right now, and even try out an early build for yourself.

The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest

Made as a homage/parody of the early Castlevania games, especially Simon’s Quest, this is a fun attempt to re-create the experience of those original NES games. It’s also a bit meta and tongue-in-cheek overall, and plays much like its inspiration. It’s very close to something like the Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon games, in a good way.

There’s nothing that will reinvent the wheel here, as is intended, but it’s an admirable attempt to call back to Simon’s Quest in a way that shows love and care, but also doesn’t take itself entirely seriously. You can keep an eye out and wishlist on Steam if retro Castlevania nods are your thing as we near the 2025 release window.

Mouthwashing

As we reported a few weeks ago, the upcoming narrative horror title with PS1-style aesthetics called Mouthwashing is due out in a few weeks, and I got a chance to play through about thirty minutes of the game, and this is shaping up to be a unique horror title with a strong focus on narrative and puzzles, with an emphasis on themes like mental health, addiction, fear, and several other topics that feel deeper than what you might expect from a retro-aesthetic game at first.

The story follows a group of workers on a crashed space ship that’s meant to look like a vacation amusement park, but the dark fate that seems to be awaiting all of them as they lose hope for rescue ends up in a spiral into madness, with a slow-burn narrative structure. Just playing the beginning of the game that I got to experience already showed signs of being a great narrative-focused title and we’ll have more coverage of it as we near the release date on September 26th.

Threshold

I had a chance to play around a half hour of a near-final build for Threshold, which is a first-person PS1 aesthetic horror game where you play as a character starting their first day at a fairly mysterious job at a train station on top of a mountain with very little oxygen. Constantly having to refill your oxygen while you explore the strange and dark workplace environment and solving mysteries as you explore makes for an interesting gameplay loop that promises to get much more frightening as you keep playing.

You can try out an early prologue demo of the game and wishlist now on Steam if you’re into slow-burn narrative mysteries with light survival mechanics.

GHOSTS

GHOSTS is a neat FMV game that’s similar to something like Night Trap or Double Switch back in the 90s, but with a modern twist, where you play as the producer of a live streaming horror show, and you’re tasked with watching the monitors on a video production console that shows all the different cameras set up around the “haunted” house that the stars of the show are exploring.

Strange things start to happen inside the house and within your production space, and since the game will feature some monster designs from Siren Head creator, Trevor Henderson, you can expect some creepy fun once things go haywire. This felt like a fun modern update to that classic style FMV manipulation game, and I’m excited to see more of this as production continues towards a release date next year. You can check out the recent trailer here to get a glimpse of the game’s style and see if it’s one you want to follow for yourself.

Homura Hime

Homura Hime is an upcoming indie hack-and-slack title that feels like a cross between Devil May Cry and OneeChanbara, with lots of fast-paced demon-hunting action and a much more fun combat system than I was expecting from such a small game like this. The enemies range from Japanese folklore Yokai to zombies and demons or malformed creatures of many types, and the gameplay has a very solid combat system with a focus on timing your parry/deflect moves correctly. I had a blast playing through what it had to offer and can’t wait to dive deeper into this combat system.

You can view more info and wishlist the game now on Steam in anticipation for its 2025 release date if this is the type of game that grabs your attention.

Don’t Be Afraid II

A sequel to 2020’s first-person horror narrative game, Don’t Be Afraid, this one looks to continue the tradition of a dark horror narrative featuring the viewpoint of children thrust into traumatic situations. We got to play a short demo that showcased gameplay that was pretty similar to the original, showing lots of exploration and creepy hallways with a little puzzle solving.

You can follow and wishlist on Steam as the development progresses if you’re a fan of the first game or enjoy your first-person narrative horror experiences.

Brokenlore: Unfollow

Brokenlore: Unfollow is the first game in a planned trilogy, from the Japanese Serafini Productions, and this one uses a first-person horror narrative to tackle subjects like depression, eating disorders, and the effects of social media on mental health, with the narrative being one of the most stand-out elements here. It ends up feeling a bit like Silent Hill: The Short Message, with the narrative being broken up by some tense chase sequences and puzzle solving.

You can wishlist on Steam to follow the game and even play an early demo for yourself to see if the Brokenlore series might be your cup of tea.

That’s everything from PAX West that we covered. Aside from all the great games featured here, there were even more horror games at the show than we had time to play for ourselves, including a new build of Heartworm, >one way, Niraiya of.., and Regular Home Renovation Simulator that we’ll be catching up on soon.

Stay tuned for more coverage of these games here at Rely On Horror. We hope you found some new games to be on the lookout for over the next year or so!

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This year at the PAX West gaming expo, there felt to be a general shift in most of the games being showcased, moving towards games that fall within a few specific categories or genres, and a noticeable decline in horror gaming content.

Maybe it was just an off-year in this regard, or perhaps there’s an ongoing attempt to make the event more family-friendly as some have suggested, but there were still a few nuggets of upcoming horror experiences featured there, including the time we got to spend playing the new re-imagining of Atari’s classic Haunted House and chatting with the producer of the game.

In the more than forty years since the release of the original Haunted House, the series has had three different reboots and re-imaginings already, making this new game in 2023 the fifth entry in the series. The original Haunted House is considered by many (myself included) to be the first survival horror video game of all time, and having personally played all the previous attempts to breathe new life into the franchise, I have to say this new rogue-lite stealth-based approach for 2023 feels like the best one to date.

The game feels like a great combination of a 2D isometric stealth game combined with a little bit of Capcom’s Sweet Home, a touch of Luigi’s Mansion or Grabbed by the Ghoulies, and some fun, lightly randomized mechanics and puzzles/objectives. All this mixes together into a package with a fun hand-drawn art style that aims more towards being spooky or creepy rather than full-on horror aesthetics, and it feels like something unique in the current stealth horror gaming market.

In the time we got to play, the stealth mechanics were tense and lots of fun, and as you progress, you rescue your kidnapped friends, who become playable characters, all with different strengths or abilities, giving some extra variety to the gameplay overall. There are also boss battles at the end of each of the four major areas that will test your skills and allow you to proceed to the next area, giving some extra variety to the gameplay and progression overall.

While making your way through the game, you’ll also be able to obtain some upgrades that are more permanent and will stay with you on all subsequent runs, as well as some upgrades that will only last through the current room you’re in or the end of your current run, as many rogue-lites do. It still maintains some of the core ideas behind the original game while updating it to account for what players will expect from a modern gaming experience, and it’s already feeling like a success on that front.

The items and abilities of your character contain many options to distract or temporarily disable your enemies, with the only permanent way to get rid of your enemies being a true stealth knockout by sneaking right up behind them, which can be much trickier than you might expect. All enemies have visible vision cones attached to them as they move around, which help you navigate around them to plan your best strategy for each room, choosing to avoid or take out enemies while also accomplishing whatever the current room’s objective is.

There’s also no radar to help you see the layout of the rooms or enemies, so all stealth and exploration is done in real-time using various indicators and putting yourself into potentially dangerous situations. The room objectives needed to progress will vary from item collection, activating certain beacons, and several other types of objectives, which will be randomized for each room. This keeps things fresh and challenging, and doesn’t allow you to just simply memorize patterns and layouts on repeat playthroughs.

The rooms will also be full of traps and obstacles along the way, on top of the randomized enemy and objective placement, and you’ll even need to watch how closely you walk around tables, chairs, vases, or other objects that can create noise, as they’ll ruin your stealth and get you spotted by enemies very quickly.

There’s a number of easter eggs that reference the history of Atari and its games, as well as the narrative story being related to the story of the previous Haunted House games, just for a few extra touches to tie it to the franchise as a whole. From our conversation at the show, the publisher is aiming for a release on all modern platforms (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC) as well as Atari’s own VCS console later this year if all goes well, and we’re definitely anticipating more news from this title as soon as we can get it.

You can watch the Haunted House reveal trailer below if you haven’t seen it yet.

Stay tuned for more info and impressions on the game as we near the release later this year and we can get our hands on the full version.

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As we approach the release of the remastered version of the “lost” Fatal Frame game in the West, Fatal Frame 4: Mask Of The Lunar Eclipse in March, many are curious to see how much it improves on the original. Well, I got a chance to go hands-on with a playable preview build of the game a full month before its release, and I’m happy to report that it’s looking and feeling great so far.

For those who aren’t aware, Fatal Frame 4 was a Japan-only release on the Nintendo Wii in 2008 and was directed by game auteur Suda51 and his team at Grasshopper Manufacture instead of being entirely in-house at Tecmo for the first time in the series. Suda had a strong pedigree of unconventional and unique Japanese horror games before this, including the Twilight Syndrome series, Moonlight Syndrome, Killer 7, and Michigan: Report From Hell.

Fatal Frame 4 marked a big step forward in several ways for the series, changing up several game mechanics to make things more streamlined and accessible, and less clunky overall. This includes a much-needed quick-turn feature, an over-the-shoulder camera style, added navigation hints after obtaining certain items or solving certain puzzles, the addition of suspenseful item pickup animations, and an auto-tracking feature that snaps to the nearest ghost of any kind when you pull out the Camera Obscura.

All these improvements to the game shine brighter than ever in the remaster, especially the added accuracy of the new control scheme, which doesn’t involve motion tracking like in the original Wii version. The controls feel snappy and responsive, even if there is a little bit less freedom in how you can control the flashlight, but it doesn’t really detract from the gameplay.

While there was a fan translation of Fatal Frame IV released back in the early 2010s, this remaster is the first time it’s getting an official English translation since its release fifteen years ago. This new translation certainly improves the clarity of the clues and notes you’ll find around the game, making the story and progression a little bit smoother than the fan-made translation.

This version of the game definitely plays tighter and gives you a more accurate control experience, as opposed to struggling with the questionable WiiMote accuracy in the original version. It’s a welcome addition to be able to play the game on a standard controller and makes it fit a little closer to the gameplay experience of the rest of the series.

For this preview, the control scheme was limited to using a standard Xbox/PlayStation-style dual-analog setup. Keyboard/mouse controls were not yet available, so they couldn’t be tested. The developer plans to add this control setup for the full release in a few weeks, but for now, we could only use the standard controller settings.

The new higher resolution and framerate are definitely a step up from the original version as well, though, in its current state, it clashes a bit with some of the animations which haven’t yet been updated to match the increased framerate. Some of the textures and geometry were actually updated from the original, with most of the faces and some other details re-designed or updated to look a bit sharper, similar to how the first Fatal Frame game was updated when ported to the Xbox console in 2002. While not quite a remake, the updated visuals definitely give a more modern look for this updated version.

Overall, the visuals are still easier on the eyes compared to playing even an upscaled version of the original. The improved visuals definitely make the strong art style stand out more than it did back on the Wii version, which is always a good thing for the Fatal Frame series.

The current preview version was limited to only 720p visuals, so we couldn’t do a full stress test to see how the game would perform on much higher PC settings, but it was already a step up from the previous experience offered by the original game. Fatal Frame IV seems to be using a soft filter on some of the edges and textures to make them fit with the increased resolution. There will also be an update before release to include more visual options on the PC version.

The visuals are understandably less impressive than the recent Fatal Frame 5 remaster since that game was released six years after Fatal Frame 4, and in a different generation of consoles, but they still look impressive in general, given the age of the game.

Despite the preview just giving us a glimpse of what’s in store for this remaster, we’re very excited about revisiting this title again in a few weeks and getting to enjoy all the added fidelity and features in the full version.

Fatal Frame 4: Mask Of The Lunar Eclipse will be available on PC, Xbox platforms, PlayStation 4 & 5, and Nintendo Switch on March 9th. Stay tuned here for more updates and a full review of the game once it’s available in a few weeks. We will be sure to test all the advanced features and control schemes available in the full game.

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As we approach the release of the season one finale of SuperMassive Games‘ Dark Pictures Anthology in a few weeks, many may be wondering what to expect from the fourth game in the series, entitled The Devil in Me, and how it compares to the previous entries Man of Medan, Little Hope, and House of Ashes.

While the game may not be released just quite yet, we got to play a full 90 minutes a little bit early this time around, and I can confidently say that The Devil In Me is already blowing away the previous three entries from the series in every way, and here are some further impressions from our time with the game.

More than all of its predecessors, the gameplay system that The Devil In Me employs is much more complex and well-rounded, featuring a host of new and more fun gameplay mechanics, making it feel more like an actual horror game in a traditional sense, with more interactivity and immersion overall.

The previous games in the series focused on the cinematic and storytelling elements first, with gameplay that essentially only consisted of walking around, making narrative choices, and simply inspecting objects or quick-time events.

The Devil In Me goes much further, including both environmental and logic puzzles and an active inventory system where you choose which items to use to open doors, obtain items, or solve puzzles. Some characters also have certain abilities or items that the other characters don’t have, and these can be used to solve certain puzzles or problems. These features go a long way in making the game feel fresh and stand out from its peers, and they’ve truly transformed the experience so far.

While the puzzles may be simple overall in the grand scheme of horror games, they’re a very welcome addition to the Dark Pictures series, and just being able to input codes, use keys, and move objects around the environment feels like a huge step forward for these types of cinematic narrative games.

The storyline is so far cleverly written and creative, and taps heavily into real serial killer history by featuring many references to and information about the man who is typically considered to be the first known American serial killer, H.H. Holmes. It already has me invested to find out who or what is behind the strange happenings as the characters explore the mysterious re-creation of Holmes’ “Murder Castle” in Chicago where they’ve found themselves trapped.

Even the title of the game is inspired by a quote from Holmes, and the way the narrative here is twisting real history, fiction, serial killer mythology, and copycat killer elements just makes for a perfect mystery and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.

Also of special note here is the sound design for the game, which, just in the first chapter already had several moments that had me petrified to move forward just from the absolutely ominous and sometimes oppressive sound design. This is an impressive feat in how well the overall sound design sells the tension and fear here, and I can’t wait to experience more of it soon.

The scenes with the directional mic had me at a standstill and are one of the most memorable scenes of any horror game I’ve experienced in a while.

As another example of the sound design being so effective, there were no less than five very effective audio stingers that made me jump out of my seat just in the first 90 minutes, which is a rare feat in the modern horror gaming market for me, especially in these types of cinematic games.

Just as with the previous games in the series, the visuals and lighting/shadows are also top-notch and just heighten the immersion that much more, making for a visual treat across the board.

The game is due out in just a few weeks, and if the first 90 minutes are any indication, this could easily be the best game in the series so far, and possibly one of the best horror games of this year, so my excitement is currently through the roof.

The Devil in Me releases on November 18th, 2022, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. You can wishlist it on Steam now or pre-order it on Xbox or PlayStation.

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After being announced late last year, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre game, based on the 1974 film, has sat patiently in our conscience, waiting for more news to arrive. The upcoming game promises to immerse players in the first film through an asymmetrical multiplayer experience.

Little info has surfaced about the game, especially regarding gameplay, but last week we got a chance to not only play several matches of the game but also sit down with the game’s developers to get some more info and satiate our curiosity about the future of the development and of the game itself.

As for the game itself, getting a chance to play several matches with different characters and scenarios really painted a greater picture of what Gun and Sumo are setting out to do with the game. Here are some impressions of the matches we got to play and a general overview of how it felt to step into the world of the game.

For starters, the 3 vs 4 asymmetrical setup of the matches in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre feels like a breath of fresh air for the multiplayer genre, amongst the dozens of others that have been released over the last few years. The balance of play between the victims and the Family feels just right, with the objectives for the victims to escape and the ability for the Family to hunt and track down the victims always feeling fair and well-adjusted.

The difficulty for the victims to survive strikes a satisfying “survival horror” feeling to the experience, where item management and stealth are the keys to survival, and the gameplay tends to be more on the slow and meticulous side, with a good amount of tact required to survive. While the gameplay for the victims tends to be fairly slow, the matches still tended to feel intense and to go quickly most of the time, feeling like just the right length without getting tiring from either side.

The survivors find items to avoid traps and unlock various doors in order to escape the family’s clutches and make their way out into the Texas sunset via the main road or a field, requiring a good amount of teamwork to truly succeed, and each character’s unique stats and abilities need to be used wisely to help your teammates to find the most efficient way out of your predicament. The level of tension and horror that the victim’s side generates is often palpable, as you do your best to remain hidden from the Family, who are constantly taunting you and lurking around a corner at any time.

This felt quite different from Friday the 13th and other asymmetrical horror games of its kind in a way that was uniquely its own, even if it is using some elements from several other games in some way, the experience feels like a thing of its own.

As for playing as the Family, this team has 3 people, including The Cook, The Hitchhiker, and Leatherface, each with vastly different traversal options and abilities, with each playing very differently from the next. The Cook is the most observant or scout type, The Hitchhiker is more of a nimble character for pursuit, and Leatherface is the brute force of the three. Similar to the victims, you need to work together for the flow of the game to shine brightest, with each teammate’s abilities being important to fishing out the victims and catching them before they escape.

Each killer has its own intricacies and most importantly, its own limits as far as how powerful they are on their own. This dynamic makes things feel very close to the original film, with the collective stalking and torture being far more harrowing than the lone moments, and several elements felt extremely close to the film in creating memorable scenarios that remind you of the film but simultaneously different enough that it feels like you’re creating your own film, in a way.

When playing as the family, you also have Grandpa on your side, who sits in a stationary position on the map, and you can return to him after scavenging blood supply to feed him throughout the match, which triggers a sonar-type ability that points out the locations of the survivors for a short time after he’s fed. It’s a nice little ability that gives the Family a short glimpse of where they might want to direct their next efforts. Survivors can also disable Grandpa during matches by killing him, giving just a little extra balance for an ability that could be very cheap if it were abused.

The ability for victims to sneak by the family and survive was also surprisingly well-done, since when I got the chance to play as the Family, the victims were easily slipping out of my grasp in ways that felt sometimes inexplicable, but made the game so much more enjoyable at the same time. This speaks to the balance and the cleverness of the game engine, making a scenario that seems like it could be pretty unfair into something that feels truly fair and balanced.

After getting hands-on time with the game, I’m hopelessly more excited for the game, and stepping into the world felt just like being in a playable version of the film, with a level of immersion that’s extremely hard to create, but they’ve truly nailed it for this game. With the mentioned expansion of more maps, options, and gameplay elements as time goes on, this is already shaping up to be one of the most anticipated titles for 2023.

Once our matches were done, I got a chance to sit down and chat with two leads from Gun Interactive (Executive Producer and Strategy Lead) with some questions about what we can expect from the game as time goes on and some of the motivations and details of the behind-the-scenes process to get this project off the ground. Here’s our conversation.

ROH: In what major ways is The Texas Chain Saw Massacre different from Friday the 13th? What new features or elements define TCM compared to your previous work?

Gun: We think that the franchise-first perspective that we take here at Gun is very important, and when we build a game, we have a blueprint of what the franchise is and how each part of a game within that franchise would function. TCM has a focus on giving players a lot of lateral movement to play the way they like and with their own play style yet sticking with the feel of the franchise overall. We focused so much on having the most accurate situational representation of 1974 Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and everything else trickles down from there.

The “mini-film” moments that players can create within our games are irreplaceable and a big part of what we do. One of the most unique things about Texas Chain Saw Massacre is that there’s 3 killers, and they’re not just a team, but a family, which is a big part of the franchise/story as well, and keeping their personalities from the franchise intact was a huge thing for us. Not only is the dynamic of 3 killers interesting from a gameplay perspective, but also in the way they’re constantly interacting with each other, in-fighting, arguing, and yet working together. The victims are also close friends who are working together and communicating as a team, and we think it feels like a world that’s complete with these characters and we’re working to make the gameplay balance fit that world as well.

ROH: Since you worked with Crowdfunding back on Friday the 13th, what would you say were the Pros and Cons of that method versus a more traditional funding method?

Gun: Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a new and fresh thing, and we always focus on finding the right design and production strategy for that IP on a case-by-case basis. We start with the idea for the game we want to make based on the property we have at hand. We don’t worry about where the funding will come from, and instead focus on what will be the most beneficial production method for the game that we want to make. The root of the game and what makes it fun is our focus, and we always approach it with the goal that we make the game we want to make, regardless of the funding method. We approached it entirely new.

ROH: What things did you learn from the experience of developing and publishing Friday the 13th and how have you applied it here?

Gun: Asymmetrical horror genre has exploded since then, so we looked at many other titles in the genre (or multiplayer in general) and after seeing what was out there and how the genre has progressed, we focused on the experience as a whole for the user, and always sought to be expanding on that. We wanted to make something that nails all the different elements of the game down and spreads it out. Instead of having the player getting fixated or stuck focusing on just one element of the experience, we wanted to make it more engrossing and also obviously having the core of it be the collective experience, when playing with friends.

We’re trying to minimize thinking about extra gameplay elements or minutiae and focusing on the fun of the experience, as well as stepping into the franchise and characters that everyone adores. Just getting better and knowing ourselves as a company better over time is one of the biggest ways we’ve progressed since Friday the 13th. Friday was us finding out what we want to make and who we are, and that shapes what we’re doing with Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and we found that our identity is creating those experiences for fans and players, and we wanted to carry that forward and expand on that into the current time. Knowing what your unique identity is within any genre that is continuing to expand is important, and knowing what we bring to the table as Gun is important. Enveloping the player in the franchise is what we think we do best, and we want to make sure the passion we have for the franchise comes through as well.

ROH: How far into the series are you going with stages and characters? Are you still limited to only being able to use the first film’s characters and setting or could there be other different characters or locations from other movies at some point?

Gun: At launch, we’re fully focused on the original film, but Kim Henkel is the rights holder for the whole series and controls the whole franchise, and we have a very good working relationship with him. Later down the line, we may have some opportunities to explore those things, since our relationship with him is so strong, but they’ll definitely come further down the road. The level of detail we provide here to the original film required a lot of focus, and we’re sticking with 1974 for now, even if other things may come down the road after launch.

ROH: Speaking of Kim, I’ve heard he’s quite involved with the project in helping create some new characters for the game. Is that the full extent of his involvement, or is he also writing an original story for the game or maybe just giving his blessing to use the story from the original film?

Gun: Kim is in contact with Ronnie Hobbs and Wes Keltner here at Gun, sometimes multiple times per week and we have a great working relationship. Not only does he give his blessings, but he’s also a direct link back to the film franchise and has the “bible” for the series in his mind. We have lots of calls just to go over ideas and he’s also joined us on some panels to provide the fans with that extra background to the film. So, in short, it’s been much more than just a blessing.

ROH: We’ve gotten to play as Leatherface twice before in video game history, with the Atari game from the 80s, and then in Dead By Daylight. How will this game set itself apart from these, and especially his appearance in DBD?

Gun: When you look at the first film, Leatherface is essentially the low man on the totem pole who gets teased and abused by the rest of the family and trying to keep with film accuracy, he’s just one element of the gameplay here since he’s part of a team of killers and not just a lone killer. Seeing how each character functions and how they all work together really makes things unique to us and gives a whole other dynamic to the character of Leatherface than just wandering around alone and stalking victims.

ROH: Friday the 13th and the recent Evil Dead game featured single-player content as well as AI opponents, including options to play against bots in online matches. Are there any plans for this type of content, or are you strictly focusing on PvP gameplay?

Gun: We are absolutely focused on multiplayer right now, and especially on making that gameplay feel right, including the stealth elements and getting the maps and flow to feel right first. The 4v3 match type makes unpredictability that’s very hard to script, so we are focused on multiplayer, and we want to make sure people experience the emotion and the gameplay experience that we want to get across first and foremost.

ROH: How has it been working with the original Hitchhiker, Edwin Neal? Is he doing MoCap or voices, or both?

Gun: Edwin joined us to provide the voice for the Hitchhiker in-game, as we already had MoCap mostly done by the time we got to recording voices. His voice as the Hitchhiker is absolutely iconic to the film and the series, so having the opportunity to have him reprise that role was huge for us. While we, unfortunately, couldn’t work with Gunnar Hansen or Jim Siedow for obvious reasons, having Edwin work with us is a very important part of linking back to the series and lending more authenticity to the world, and he’s been great to work with.

ROH: In an interview this past March, Kane Hodder said that he wants to pay tribute to Gunnar Hansen’s performance in the 1974 film. Ronnie Hobbs also said that while Kane is trying to mimic Gunnar in the game, he’s also doing his own thing.

Gunnar went into great detail about how he prepared for and performed the role in his book ‘Chain Saw Confidential.’ Are the developers or Kane using anything Gunnar described in his book to inform Leatherface’s portrayal in the game, like how he’s written or how the motion capture sessions are directed?

Gun: It’s a very tricky thing to step into such a legendary role, but the fact that Kane knew Gunnar personally and he respects the role so much, it’s really helped him in the process of creating a Leatherface performance that isn’t a caricature of the iconic performance, but doesn’t stray too far from what we see on screen in the film.

The respect that Kane has for Gunnar and the role helped direct him a lot, and he’s a guy who tends to get obsessive about every performance he approaches, anyway, so we upheld that respect while also staying within the perimeter of what Gunnar had crafted in the beginning. As a team, we’ve been obsessively studying the film, and since we also know Kane’s usual obsessive tendencies for roles in general, we think he’s about the only perfect candidate for the role that exists at this point.

ROH: Are you including any original sounds of Gunnar Hansen from the movie, like his grunting, screaming, or any sounds from the original chainsaw itself?

Gun: When you flirt with trying to pull these types of things in from the original film, it’s a fine line before crossing into disrespecting and simply imitating the original film, which we didn’t want to do. We also thought about the Cook’s voice for a long time and tried hard to find someone that can recreate something close to Jim Siedow’s original performance without simply imitating it. With the respect we have for these performances, we wanted to make sure we were representing it as well as we could without just pulling the original audio from the film.

That’s why we’ve encouraged our voice actors to make it their own to some extent instead of being a mimicry or caricature, and we wanted it to be inspired by the original characters, instead of imitating them. The original performances are part of the story of the 1974 film, we’re not trying to steal from that film, but instead trying to create an experience that sits beside it, so we want everything to feel in place with that film, but not pull direct performances from it, since it is a different story.

Thanks to everyone at Gun Interactive for giving us the chance to check out this highly-anticipated game and giving us a glimpse into the love and care that’s being put into it.

Stay tuned, as we’ll have more news about the development of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre game as time goes on, and will hopefully get some more hands-on time with the game before its launch next year!

The post The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – Hands-On Preview & Developer Interview appeared first on Rely on Horror.

Our final day of attendance at PAX West 2022 has come to a close, and we got a chance to play several more new games today, and just like the days before, we got a chance to sit down for exclusive play sessions and discussions with the developers of the games to learn about what these games are all about and get a better idea of what we can expect from the full releases in the (mostly near) future.

Here’s a rundown of what we got to check out on the floor today:

The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow

The first game we got hands-on impressions for today at PAX West is The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow, a gothic horror/adventure game similar to the DOS adventure games of the 90s like King’s Quest, with full voice acting and character movement, with a gorgeous and period-accurate art style that draws the eye with every frame.

We got a chance to see around 30 minutes of the game, and it had us captivated the whole time. We can’t wait to dig into more when the full game is out soon.

Check this one out on Steam and wishlist as we near the release date later this month.

Wanted: Dead

Next for the day, we got to try out Wanted: Dead, a new gory, high-action hack & slash title from the makers of Ninja Gaiden, and this is due out early next year on Valentine’s Day. This plays like a retro-themed version of Devil May Cry, Vanquish and Ninja Gaiden smashed together, and is packed with minigames, challenges, and customizations, with fluid combat and executions. We can’t wait to dig into this early next year. Check it out on Steam now.

Signalis

One of the biggest highlights for today’s show was getting hands-on time with Signalis, a new sci-fi survival horror title that plays like a top-down version of early Resident Evil and Silent Hill games with aesthetics and story inspired by Alien and other sci-fi horror.

This plays really well and has a foreboding atmosphere, satisfying puzzles, and all the early survival horror hallmarks, and it’s launching pretty soon on all modern platforms including on Game Pass on October 27th. Do yourself a favor and check this out if you haven’t yet.

Hyde’s Haunt and Seek

Next for the day, we got hands-on with Hyde’s Haunt and Seek, a unique and fun asymmetrical multiplayer game with a somewhat light-hearted tone (think Luigi’s Mansion,) where one person plays as a “Seeker” in first-person, trying to find the items that the ghosts (the other players) hid throughout the level.

It’s like a haunted house game where your friends are the ghosts and can torment or scare you in a variety of ways. The full game plans to have 6 player support, VR and mobile support, as well as bots to play offline.

We got to try out playing as both sides, and even in a very early state, both sides felt great to play, so this is showing some promise and definitely sets itself apart from most of the current asymmetrical games flooding the market.

Keep an eye on this one and wishlist on Steam to keep up to date on the development.

SCP: Secret Files

As our last game for the show this year, we got hands-on time with a game that’s due out in less than two weeks, SCP: Secret Files, a new game based on the SCP collective fiction, and which features several different chapters, each with different styles of gameplay.

The chapter we got to try was a first-person narrative-driven experience that takes you through an abandoned power station, as your reality starts to collapse and various SCP files come to life as you struggle to remember what went wrong with your mission.

This is looking to be a pretty diverse package of content, and if you’re into the SCP lore, this will be a treat for you, with tons of references to specific files and lore throughout, with many SCP fans calling it the best video game based on SCP to date. Check this out on Steam as we roll into the final release in just a few days.

It’s a bittersweet feeling as we close out our time at PAX West 2022, but we send a big thank you to all the publishers, developers, and organizers for making this event possible and for giving us a taste of what the next 6-12 months of titles might look like from our favorite genres and styles. Hopefully we’ll be back at PAX next year for some more great games, and we may also be attending some other big shows within the next year as well.

Until next time, stay tuned to all our channels for future news, updates, and reviews of a good amount of the games featured here, and let us know what you think about any of these through our comments or social media channels.

The post Rely On Horror’s PAX West Day 3 Wrap-Up appeared first on Rely on Horror.

Another day at PAX West 2022 has come and gone, and we got a chance to play several other new games today, and just like yesterday, we got a chance to sit down for exclusive play sessions and discussions with the developers of the games to learn about what these games are all about and get a better idea of what we can expect from the full releases in the (mostly near) future.

Here’s a rundown of what we got to check out on the floor today:

Slave Zero X

We got to try out a great set of games today, and we’ve got another pretty packed day with lots of new gameplay impressions coming tomorrow as well, so check back again for some of those updates and check out our Facebook page for live updates from the floor at PAX West.

The post Rely On Horror’s PAX West Day 2 Wrap-up appeared first on Rely on Horror.

The time for in-person gaming events is upon us again, as we attend our first gaming show in several years, with PAX West 2022. It’s nice to finally be back in person to meet with developers and publishers to see what’s on the horizon for the future of horror games and even get to play many of them in person to have a better idea of what to expect.

As the first day of the show wrapped up, we had gotten a chance to sit down for exclusive play sessions and discussions with the developers of the games to learn about what these games are and dive into what we can expect from the full releases in the (mostly near) future.

Here are the titles we got a chance to see today and our impressions from the experience.

Dead Fury

Dead Fury is a third-person zombie shooter that’s been in development for quite a long time and has been through several iterations, but the current version feels like an interesting mix of things like Days Gone, The Last of Us, Left 4 Dead, with a wave-based gameplay style, but with a lot of variety in the gameplay and the modes. The gunplay had a lot of weight and a great feel to it, and it played better than I was expecting. The final version is set to include full online play, which seems like it would be an arcade-style blast with friends.

It’s still being fleshed out and worked on by solo developer Paul Cousins, who I got a chance to talk with about the aspirations and goal of the game through it’s history. We’ll have some more coverage of this as it progresses and you can wishlist and see the game for yourself now on Steam.

Umbilical

The next game for the day was a previously unannounced title from DX Gameworks called Umbilical, a game with inspiration from things like the Alien series, Returnal, Death Stranding, and a few others, that sets you inside a dark and strange world where your goal is to stay attached to a giant umbilical cord that’s hooked into your body. This cord provides you life and energy to move around this world, while strange enemies seek to rip that cord out of your body and steal its energy for themselves.

I had a while to sit down and chat with the developers, learning the inspiration for the concept and art style, as well as its inspirations and goals, and got to play through an early demo of the game, which was quite a unique experience, since you’re basically controlling two different characters at once, one with each analog stick, and it’s set to feature co-op modes where each player takes over for one of the characters. As you can tell from the trailer above, the art style is very much of thing of its own and has a level of beauty to it, along with the isolating horror elements. I’m really excited to see more of this as development goes on, and we’ll definitely be following the game as it moves forward.

The Last Case of Benedict Fox

Next at PAX for the day was some hands-on time with The Last Case of Benedict Fox, a gothic noir Metroidvania title with some great narrative and sound design. I got a chance to play the game for a while and was very impressed with the production and atmosphere the game employs, with a somewhat Lovecraftian touch, and feels unique to most other dark adventure games of this style.

We were already excited about this one when it was announced earlier this year, but finally getting hands-on time with the game has made it even more anticipated now. You can wishlist and check the game out on Steam now, and we’ll have more coverage of the game as we get closer to the release date.

Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open

The next game for the day was Paper Ghost Stories: Third Eye Open, a Malaysian-developed horror game with a cute paper cutout art style on the surface, but after starting out as a wholesome family story, things get dark once they enter the woods at night. From the same series as Paper Ghost Stories: 7PM, which released in 2020, and this will further the cultural horror story that game started.  A gorgeous, visually arresting game with a great start, based on the gameplay we got to try today.

The gameplay started with a cultural family affair, introducing you to the world, traditions, and dialect of these particular people, and gives lots of further exploration and footnotes to understand the more direct cultural references. When the forest segments began at dark, there were some light stealth elements as well as a very foreboding environments and scares. This is quite a unique game, and one that we’ll be keeping our eyes on.

One Last Breath

The last game for today was One Last Breath, a horror puzzle platformer in the style of Limbo, Inside, or Little Nightmares, but with a unique art style and concept about restoring life to a dead world using your ability to control the roots of the surviving plants. Some scary enemies and intense sound design put this close to horror territory, and I also had time to chat with the development team (currently a two-man team) about the overall style and overarching narrative concepts that will be featured in the story.

You can check out the trailer above to see what it’s all about and wishlist on Steam now if this looks like your kind of game.

We’ll be back tomorrow with more coverage from Day 2 of PAX West, with many more exciting new games and impressions that we can’t wait to dig into tomorrow. Check back tomorrow evening for more coverage from the show floor and catch live updates as the day goes on by following our Facebook page.

The post Rely On Horror’s PAX West Day 1 Wrap-up appeared first on Rely on Horror.

With all the recent excitement from news of The House of the Dead: Remake dropping soon, it’s got me pulling out my light gun setups and firing up the classics of the genre again (though, admittedly, I do this all the time anyway).

I’ve been a fan of the light gun games since the 1990s, and even though the classics still keep me entertained all these years later, I still try to keep up with any new releases, even though that can be disheartening at times.

Outside of a few random Switch and PC titles (mostly shovelware), the light gun genre hasn’t gotten much love lately, which is understandable, since the technology required to play the games properly is fairly expensive or hard to obtain in 2022.

After the PlayStation 3’s PS Move compatibility spawned a glut of new home light gun titles in the late 2000s and early 2010s, that trend quickly died a fiery death when the PS4 launched in 2013. Hell, even the arcade light gun releases have been nearly dead for the last few years thanks to the global pandemic. On top of that, Sega completely closed its arcade division and all arcades they owned in Japan last year, as well as the Western arcade chain, GameWorks, closing all of their locations.

While there’s been a valiant effort to realize the type of rollercoaster-ride feeling of light gun games in the VR space, their success has been limited, even if there are some fun titles out there. Games like Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, Drop Dead, and Zombieland: Headshot Fever did a good job of nailing the feeling of a light gun game in VR, but the hardware required can similarly be a barrier of entry for those who want to enjoy these games. Good ones are few and far between amongst hundreds of boring and uninspired VR horde shooters.

Thankfully, every once in a while, a great new light gun title will hit the scene. That’s how we’ve ended up at BioCrisis 2: Return to the Lab, a new retro-inspired horror light gun game currently in development by an indie French developer simply known as Jim. I recently got a chance to play an early preview build of the game and talk with Jim about the project, and I’m loving how it’s shaping up so far.

BioCrisis 2: Return to the Lab is a sequel to Jim’s 2020 title, BioCrisis, which played more like a 2D light gun shooter from the 16-bit era, with some arcade-style mechanics and a pretty simple but fun scoring system, and was set during a zombie outbreak at a scientific research lab. If you manage to complete a successful run in the first BioCrisis, it ends with a cutscene of you escaping the lab by jumping out the front door just as it closes.

BioCrisis 2 cleverly picks up right where the first one left off, with you jumping out of those doors as they close. The camera turns around to show you’re outside in the courtyard of the lab and there are plenty more threats headed your way.

Soon after your escape, you find out the city will be nuked by the government to “contain the outbreak,” similar to Resident Evil 3, so the countdown begins to escape the city before the bomb is dropped.

This time, instead of keeping the 16-bit visual style, BioCrisis 2 dives head-first into the 32-bit 3D style, much like the original House of the Dead, Time Crisis, or Virtua Cop. The action starts right off the bat as you start fighting several zombies at once as you move through the courtyard. Headshots are deadly accurate, just like in House of the Dead, and zombies can easily overwhelm you if you don’t take them out quickly.

The shooting and enemy reactions feel great as you mow your way through hordes of the undead. The satisfaction from headshots is exactly what makes this kind of game great and BioCrisis 2 hits all the right beats.

You’ll soon start encountering birds and other types of zombies like throwing or spitting zombies, which adds variety and keeps the action going. You’ll also encounter branching paths, which adds to the replay value after you’ve finished the game. There are also several different types of weapons and power-ups as you go, giving some different strategies to approach each battle or section.

Near the end of the level, you’ll also encounter the big boss enemy, with its own patterns and strategies required to beat as you progress through the fight. The boss’s patterns are fairly simple in the early preview build, which leaves room for some more complex patterns and tactics once the rest of the levels are all fleshed out.

Dithering, texture warping, and everything else that comes with this type of low-poly, 32-bit 3D aesthetic is on full display here and does a great job taking you back to the glory days of the 3D light gun craze.

The game is compatible with the Sinden light gun and other PC light gun setups, even in this early preview build. This makes it that much more fun for those who have one of these setups since you’ll be able to experience it without much hassle once the full game is available to play.

There are currently no plans to bring the game to other platforms besides PC yet since it’s still so early in development, but this may become a reality later down the road.

The game is set to feature eight full levels with branching paths, with each level being around 10 minutes, so a full playthrough will be close to the length of one of the classic horror movies the game is inspired by. Since this is all being made by a solo developer in his spare time, he’s set a realistic expectation to ship the game by early 2023, however, we’ll definitely have some more updates as time goes on.

Overall, this is an excellent callback to the light gun games of old while also giving us a dose of new content. If this short piece of the experience carries through into the full game, this will be one for the horror light gun fans to watch out for. You can already wishlist the game on Steam here and follow the developer at @Jmgennisson to keep up with the game’s progress.

As a bonus for checking out this post and the preview for BioCrisis 2, you can enter for a chance to win a free Steam key for Jim’s first light gun horror title, BioCrisis.

Fill out the form below and answer the question to enter, and remember, the contest ends on March 31st!

The post Hands-On Preview: BioCrisis 2: Return to the Lab + Steam Key Giveaway appeared first on Rely on Horror.

When Daymare: 1994 Sandcastle was first announced earlier last year, as the follow-up to Invader Studios‘ debut game, Daymare: 1998, it was exciting news that the team would be continuing a series that showed some promise with its first outing, and we were excited to hear any further communication. After almost one year of relative silence about Sandcastle, we’ve finally received some updates. We even got to experience some hands-on time with the game’s current build ahead of its upcoming limited public demo release. Here’s a look at what you can expect when the demo drops this week.

The opening throws you right into the middle of a chaotic scene, where you’ve just escaped from a horde of enemies who are still banging on the door behind you as you try to catch your breath. Players meet the game’s new main character, Dalila Reyes, among the chaos and confusion of this imminent threat.

Right off the bat, the visuals are a noticeable improvement from Daymare: 1998, with everything looking sharper and more detailed, with more high quality, polished, and unique assets than 1998 had to offer. This makes sense, given that Invader is a more accomplished developer than they were when working on 1998. The upgrade in visual fidelity is a great addition that immediately elevates 1994 above its predecessor.

The performance also feels much more stable than Daymare: 1998 ever was. Whether on PC or consoles, 1998 suffered from various performance problems across the board. In our preview play, 1994 ran much better. You can get some very solid framerates even on a basic, moderately powerful gaming PC. The newer game boasts a built-in benchmark tool that tries to optimize for your hardware, plus about a dozen other individual settings for tweaking your visual/performance experience.

After the short cutscene, players take control. The next jump forward in player experience becomes evident the moment you do; controls are now much tighter, more smooth, and more fluid than in 1998. Gone are the cumbersome, overly-complex controls for combat and item management from 1998. In their place, you’ll find a much simpler, streamlined system that makes the game feel in a league of its own and a few steps ahead of the previous outing.

Players set out exploring through a few rooms with some story exposition over Dalia’s radio. After that chance to get comfortable with basic controls and movement, you’ll encounter your first enemies in Sandcastle, a new form of zombies called Decoys. These are fast and furious genetic experiments, far from the primarily slow-moving zombies of 1998. Since you’ll be facing more fierce enemies this time around, the game also steps up its game for the combat system as well, with several new improvements and features.

Overall, the better technical performance makes combat a much more enjoyable experience, and several new elements further improve enemy interactions. The changes push the game closer to the subgenre of action games, making it much more fun and exciting than 1998‘s slow, plodding combat.

Decoys move much faster and often attack in coordinated groups to hit you from all sides. Thankfully you’ve got some new tricks up your sleeve to keep the crowds at bay and a few new mechanics that make these enemies a whole different experience than fighting zombies. First of all, the game features a “charge” system, where the enemies can either be colored red or blue, with slightly different abilities tied to the colors.

Blue enemies succumb to standard weapons and die as expected. However, combat becomes an entirely different scenario if any red enemies are nearby. Red enemies require using the new Frost Grip accessory that’s attached to your wrist. The grip has several functions throughout the game; during combat, it can either shoot a short-range spray of ice to freeze your enemies or shoot a frost-charged bullet from your gun for a longer-range effect.

For the red enemies, they will not take damage or die until they’ve been fully frozen first, and then you can decapitate or shatter them completely. Even if you kill a red enemy, they may not be down for the count. A red ball of energy will rise out of the red enemy you just killed and float into any other nearby corpses to reanimate them. The energy gives previously blue Decoys a red charge as they reanimate. You can shoot the energy ball as it emerges to stop it from entering other bodies, but this requires an expert level of concentration and reload management to pull it off in time.

Another new addition to combat, the Frost Grip also has an excellent feature for crowd control, which you can use after pushing off an enemy that grabs you (similar to the defense items from the RE remakes.) This ability results in a ground smash that partially freezes all nearby enemies for a second or two, allowing you a moment to breathe and attempt fully freezing or killing the nearby enemies. This ability uses much of your frost meter, which is limited, so good resource management is required, but it adds an excellent extra level of tactical thought to the combat.

Outside of combat, the Frost Grip has a few other uses as well, including its use in many of the game’s puzzles, where you must use the spray to cool down overheated mechanical components or put out fires to progress past specific points. The mechanic adds a significant number of environmental puzzles to the more classic survival horror-style puzzles where you’ll be operating computers and solving logic puzzles. The puzzles were all compelling and fun in the short demo. Hopefully, this will continue through the whole experience when the entire game is released.

I played through the demo twice on different difficulty settings, each one lasting between 30-45 minutes. The experience was great between both, with an appreciable difference in difficulty levels regarding supply scarcity and combat. The normal mode had me scrounging for supplies and making every single shot count, but easy mode took a little of the edge off of these encounters. There’s also a ‘Nightmare’ difficulty which made progress incredibly difficult; this one is best reserved for later playthroughs after you’ve mastered some of the game’s mechanics. These options give all players different choices for tackling the experience, no matter your skill level.

These various improvements work together to make the game feel much closer to the modern 3rd-person Resident Evil remakes. It makes a lot of sense when considering that the Daymare project started as a modern remake of Resident Evil 2 before Capcom shut the project down to make their own.

The free demo will be available to the public on PC during this week’s Steam Festival, so you’ll be able to check it out for yourself today, and it’s already available to Wishlist on Steam right now. The full game will launch on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch platforms later in the year.

If the quality and improvements from this demo carry through and stay consistent throughout the complete game, we’re going to have one hell of a strong survival horror title on our hands when it releases later this year. Stay tuned for any further updates as the development progresses, and hopefully, we’ll be seeing a release window announcement in the near future.

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