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'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2' devs are spending a lot of time on teeth
The 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2' developers made a teeth customization tool to play dentist with the horror game's characters.
'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2' gameplay teaser previews the game's 2021 launch
'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2' is set to ship in 2021, more than ten years after it was announced, and this is our first in-engine look at the PC and Xbox game
Capcom delays ‘Resident Evil Resistance’ PS4 and Steam betas
The remake of Resident Evil 3 will be out in just a few weeks, but Capcom wanted to give eager gamers the chance to play Resident Evil Resistance -- a multiplayer game that comes with Resident Evil 3 -- a bit early. The publisher had planned on opening a public beta today on Steam, PS4 and Xbox One, but only the latter has launched on time, as the company announced that technical issues have caused delays for the Steam and PS4 versions. Capcom didn't mention what exactly those problems are, or how long it expects the delay to last. Only 14 days remain until the retail launch of both titles, so hopefully the beta will be available shortly -- otherwise the sneak peek would be rather pointless.
‘Resident Evil 3’ remake demo will come to consoles and PC on March 19th
The remake of 1999's Resident Evil 3 will be out in a matter of weeks, but there are plenty of survival horror fans who don't want to wait that long. A demo for the game will give gamers a taste of Jill Valentine's escape from Raccoon City on Thursday, March 19th. The remake uses the same engine as Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and the Resident Evil 2 remake, meaning there are no more frustrating tank-style controls. Instead, a more fluid, over-the-shoulder control scheme and camera setup will let players better experience one of the most well-received games in Capcom's iconic series.
Indie horror classic 'Amnesia' is getting a sequel called 'Rebirth'
Amnesia: The Dark Descent was a breath of fresh air when it hit PCs in 2010. Rather than using Resident Evil, Silent Hill, or any of the other classic survival horror games as a template, it created a unique and exploratory take on the genre. It quickly became a classic -- both as a game and as a livestreaming sensation. Ten years later, fans will finally be able to play a sequel. Frictional Games announced Amensia: Rebirth today and assured players that the game will stay true to the original's roots.
Capcom may unveil a spiritual successor to 'Resident Evil Outbreak'
The next Resident Evil game may not be a sequel or a remake -- not a straightforward one, anyway. Capcom is teasing plans to unveil a new title, nicknamed Project Resistance, at 11AM Eastern on September 9th. The developer hasn't said anything about what it will entail, but the initial signs point to a spiritual successor to the spin-off Resident Evil Outbreak. Thumbnails grabbed from the YouTube Premiere show what looks to be four heroes working together to slay the zombie hordes. It's not certain if you'll fight alongside AI or human players, but you won't be alone.
Infestation producer: The War Z was a 'terrible choice of a name'
Infestation Survivor Stories (previously known as The War Z) Executive Producer Sergey Titov has penned a post-mortem on Gamasutra about the game's launch in 2012, noting how inviting the comparison to DayZ worked against the project. "That said, The War Z was a terrible choice of name, as it naturally invited comparisons between our game and DayZ," Titov admitted. "We made a big mistake in not listening to the vocal minority of our community who thought the name was terrible [...] Beyond not listening to the community, we were also very arrogant in our public communications. We should have taken more care to communicate how and why this was not a DayZ clone, citing specific differences in both design and conception. Instead of saying to ourselves 'Oh well, haters gonna hate!' we should have tried to understand where the hate was coming from and address it." Another key mistake that Titov and his team made was engaging in an "arms race" to get The War Z to Steam before DayZ, which resulted in its being yanked from that platform due to misrepresentation of the existing game features. Even with these missteps, Titov said that Infestation sold 2.8 million copies, and of those, over half logged at least 50 hours of playing time apiece. You can read Massively's hands-on impressions of this title from 2013.
Survival horror sequel Outlast 2 in development
Independent developer Red Barrels delivers terrifying news just in time for Halloween, announcing that it is developing a sequel to its first-person survival horror game Outlast. "After shipping the [Xbox One] version of Outlast, we took some time to analyze our situation and we quickly realized we had at least another horror game in us," Red Barrels co-founder Philippe Morin told horror-themed news site Bloody Disgusting. "So, yes, we are working on Outlast 2." Morin notes that Outlast 2 will shift its setting and inflict the series' trademark cruelty on a new cast of characters. "The game will be a survival horror experience and it will take place in the same universe as Outlast, but it will have different characters and a different setting," he said. "We might go back to Mount Massive Asylum one day, but for now we have new ideas and themes we'd like to explore and we think we're cooking up something special. "We're still a small indie studio (12 people), so we'll need a little bit of time to ship our next game, but hopefully it will be worth it." Outlast premiered for PC platforms in 2013, and later hit the PlayStation 4 as a free download for PlayStation Plus subscribers. A release date and target platforms for Outlast 2 were not announced. [Image: Red Barrels]
Fight for your life in The Evil Within's latest trailer
When you encounter a large man ripping out a corpse's innards, "Hey! What are you doing?" maybe isn't the best response. Bethesda's latest The Evil Within trailer showcases The Haunted, the single-minded horde that stalks hero Sebastian Castellanos throughout his gory quest. The trailer also gives a glimpse at the deadly traps that will crush, ensnare, or puncture players at every turn when The Evil Within launches next week for consoles and PC platforms. [Video: Bethesda]
Stand your ground or flee for now in Darkwood trailer
You can't play Darkwood until it shines a light on Early Access on July 24, but you can make a pivotal decision in an adventurer's life: fight or flight? Don't fret too much about your choice – the survival horror game will show you equally-unsettling things either way. [Image: Acid Wizard Studio]
H1Z1 graphics programmer hints at other weather types
SOE Graphics Programmer Ryan Favale is the target of a new H1Z1 video. In it, he discusses the games that he's playing, notable bugs, and his role on the upcoming zombie sandbox. Favale said that he's primarily working on the dynamic weather system. "That's my main job on H1Z1, to bring as many weather conditions and effects and environmental immersion as possible," Favale said. He teased the possibility of hurricanes, tornadoes, and dust storms, but didn't promise that they'd make them into the game. You can watch the video after the break.
Dino-survival: Hands-on with The Stomping Land's early access alpha
Yesterday, I examined up-and-coming dinosaur-survival MMO Beasts of Prey. Today, let's look at another game in the same niche genre: The Stomping Land. The Stomping Land isn't technically billing itself as an MMO, but it boasts a semi-permanent world. But my experience in it was nothing like the trailers shown back in May. The current game is totally different. In fact, it seems to have regressed. There's no customization, there are no berries, and no one I talked to knew how to name a tribe. It feels like a semi-permanent shooter, similar to other survival games except without a lot of the building. You either make a teepee or you don't. You make a bow or you don't. You have a dinosaur mount or... you don't. The biggest servers I saw had 24 people, meaning I was able to avoid other players very often, but the game was more fun when I encountered people -- at least people who didn't one-shot me and waltz away.
SOE teases H1Z1's dynamic weather
We all know that the most important thing to your MMO immersions when you're neck-deep in zombies and dastardly corpse-looting player-killers is whether you can wear a t-shirt in a blizzard with impunity. Worry not, roleplay fiends, for SOE has today teased its dynamic weather system for upcoming survival MMO H1Z1 via a septet of screenshots that show the effect of changing seasons on the environment. Enjoy!
E3 2014: Hands-on with H1Z1
I'm coughing. My head hurts. I'm tired, hungry, and thirsty. I'm not hearing things anymore, but when I close my eyes for too long, I feel disoriented. And this was before I got my hands on H1Z1! I'm sick at E3, but well enough to see through some spin while looking at a winner. If you're tired of hype, false promises, and pay-to-play alphas, come read between the lines with me as I recount the experience of my H1Z1 demo.
Rust, H1Z1, and the emerging 'survival MMO' genre
I'm naked and alone again, but that's OK. After having to level up in other games a million times, deal with boring tutorials, repeatedly turn in quests that add no value to my play time, and then watch as my guild slowly bleeds members to the next MMO asking us to repeat the whole ordeal, "naked and alone" is actually nice. Well, maybe just the naked part. And that, my friends, is the horror-survival/post-apocalypse genre. I love MMOs, but recent themeparks and building games have left me wanting something a bit more dangerous but still not a pointless murderfest. For the most part, these games are less about levels and quests and more about finding items to make sure you don't die. Hunger meters, diseases, and limited supplies in a world filled with enemies who loot you certainly feels like a good throwback to classic RPGs mixed with the multiplayer I've been craving since Asheron's Call first hooked me on MMORPGs. But community-wise, these games have seemed more like lobby shooters than MMOs, which for a long time made me hesitate to try them. If you've been finding yourself in the same situation, hopefully my little plunge into this bloody genre will give you some ideas of what to expect.
Horror game Uncanny Valley can't hold onto its flashlight
You're Tom, a security guard at a corporate facility deep in the mountains, and you have the night shift. To help pass the time, you grab a flashlight and explore the cavernous building. You walk down dark hallways, through meat-packing rooms and offices with anatomical diagrams on the walls – and eventually, you end up in places you shouldn't be, with things you wish you'd never seen. Uncanny Valley is a survival horror, exploration and adventure game from Slovenia studio Cowardly Creations, due out around Halloween for PC and Mac. Survival is key in Uncanny Valley, but it isn't the main mechanic – there aren't many things in the game that kill you. Instead, there's a consequence system that directly impacts the gameplay and storyline. For example, if you fail to escape a group of attackers, Tom will move more slowly throughout the rest of the game, Cowardly Creations says: "Why? Because dying and repeating the same section over and over is tedious and leads to frustration. The game stops being scary if you're angry and just want to rush through it, so we think that adding such a system will still keep the tension while adding a new layer to scariness." Uncanny Valley is in the midst of an Indiegogo campaign seeking €5,000. It just got started this week, and it ends on June 15. [Images: Cowardly Creations]
Steam's Daily Deal offers System Shock 2 at half price
If your life is painfully lacking in malevolent AI and angry, telekinetic monkeys, today is your lucky day: Steam is currently offering survival horror classic System Shock 2 at a 50 percent discount. Co-developed by Irrational Games and Looking Glass Studios, and designed by BioShock maestro Ken Levine, System Shock 2 drops players into the dark corridors of a faster than light spaceship where a routine rescue operation has gone horribly wrong. Armed with scavenged weaponry and a handful of special powers, players must battle the twisted denizens of deep space, all the while being mocked by SHODAN, a once helpful AI that has started to lose her virtual marbles. Despite being a "Daily Deal," System Shock 2 will remain at its current $5 price point until Monday, April 21 at 10AM PT. Would-be players need not worry about system compatibility, as Steam offers System Shock 2 in PC, Mac and Linux flavors. [Image: Night Dive Studios]
Grave's dynamic horror landscape shifting on PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One
Horror games tend to create chilling atmospheres, but the unsettling moments within them are often pre-meditated or scripted. The spooks in Broken Window Studios' Grave may be a bit more freeform than that - the Oculus Rift-compatible trek through an open-world desert environment on PC, Mac, Linux and Xbox One isn't entirely predictable. The layout of Grave's environment shifts with each passing night, making navigation less about checking off rooms on a map and more about exploring and staying prepared for the world's threats. Of course, the night's blanketing darkness hides Grave's danger, a threat that players can fend off with sources of light. Each progressively-generated sunset brings out a variety of enemies, which players can either stand bravely against during evening strolls, or use light-based weaponry to fend off while stowing away in shelters. Supplies are limited though, so shying from valuable exploration time will eventually backfire. Broken Window is currently seeking funding to make Grave possible, with $8,751 out of the requested $30,000 gathered at the time of this writing. Should the project clear its goal, the creatures in Grave's everchanging world will start stalking players in early 2015, with backers that chip in $60 or more getting access to a beta before then. If you're willing to wait until Grave is finished, contributing $15 gets you the story version, with $20 earning an endless "Survive The Night" mode. If you're still uncertain, an early PC demo of Grave is available on the project's Kickstarter page. [Image: Broken Window Studios]
Duskers ditches the paper prototype to bring survival horror to space
The last time we spoke with Misfits Attic founder Tim Keenan about this game, it was called Scavenger, and it was a paper prototype starring tower-defense mechanics and a Han Solo-esque character traveling the galaxy to pay off his debts. Now, it's called Duskers, and it's darker. The game has migrated to the screen, and it's no longer tower defense; instead, it's a roguelike with RTS and dungeon-crawling aspects in a survival-horror setting. "You pilot drones into derelict spaceships to find the means to survive and piece together how the universe became a giant graveyard," Keenan explains in his pitch video. In Hollywood terms, Keenan compares Duskers to The Road and the original Alien. The art in the pitch video is temporary, but the mechanics are nearing their final forms. Players must use power-ups and abilities to outsmart and avoid enemies waiting behind various spaceship doors. "The game's strongest moments come when you feel that there is no solution to a problem, but then by creatively thinking about what upgrades you have and the predicament you're in, you have this MacGyver-type moment where you come up with a plan," Keenan says. Keenan is looking at funding options for Duskers (Kickstarter is the "worst case" option), but the tentative plan is to get it on Steam Early Access for PC this year, with a full launch in 2015, he tells Joystiq. So far, his previous game, A Virus Named Tom, has kept the lights on, but it's not quite enough to fund a second game. Misfits Attic has a few projects in the works right now.
Red Thread announces VR support, 2015 release for horror game Draugen
Indie studio Red Thread Games announced a release window for Draugen, a first-person survival horror game that will feature support for VR technology like the Oculus Rift. Red Thread is also working on Dreamfall Chapters, a Kickstarter-funded revival of the classic PC adventure game series The Longest Journey. Red Thread is primarily composed of former staff from The Longest Journey developer Funcom, and was founded by series creator Ragnar Tørnquist. Speaking to Eurogamer, Tørnquist described the project as "HP Lovecraft meets Dostoyevsky," and "Gone Home meets Amnesia." Kicked off by a grant from the Norwegian Film Institute, Draugen will seek a final round of funding via Kickstarter before it ships for Windows, Mac, Linux, and an undisclosed console platform in 2015. [Video: Red Thread Games]
