Slitterhead, the debut title from Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama and Bokeh Game Studio and one of my most anticipated upcoming horror games, has given us our first peak at early gameplay, and it sure looks like there's a playable dog.
I've been intrigued by Slitterhead since it was revealed at The Game Awards 2021, and so it's been an agonizing wait to actually see what the game looks like in action. The cinematics we've seen so far have been deliciously creepy, particularly the alien-like monsters which seem to be able to disguise themselves as human and change between forms at will, but I've been craving some gameplay for many months.
A new dev diary from Bokeh is largely about the process of having people come in and play an early build of the game and give feedback to the developers, but sprinkled throughout the video are short clips of pre-alpha gameplay. By no means is this a gameplay trailer, but it's noteworthy nonetheless for being the first gameplay we've seen.
What little we do see shows a protagonist duking it out with various monsters from a third-person perspective. We also get to see the screen that appears when you die, a little bit of the in-game UI, and a short scene that takes place in a dense urban environment with neon-lit signs. Oh, and for a few seconds it really looks like you get to play as a dog, which, hell yes.
In combat, you can see the protagonist slashing at dastardly creatures up close and guarding using large claws and some sort-of sword-like weapon. There also seem to be magic abilities as well as a gun-type thing that fires quick rounds at enemies from a distance. Again, the footage is clearly from an early build and includes unfinished textures, so it's a bit tricky to make out exactly what's going on. We do get some clear shots of the main character and several enemies, but it's all very rudimentary.
Because the in-game footage looks so early, I'm a bit skeptical that Slitterhead will make its originally targeted 2023 release, but Bokeh has yet to announce a delay. Regardless, it's due to launch on PC as well as "as many console platforms as possible."
In the meantime, here are the best horror games you can play right now.
