Fun Dog Studios, a new developer whose collective credits include The Witcher 3, Doom Eternal, and Horizon Zero Dawn, has revealed a co-op horror game called The Forever Winter, and to me it looks like what would happen if Hideo Kojima made a looter shooter.
The cinematic reveal trailer is some of the wildest stuff I've seen in some time, an explosive, dystopian portrait of men scavenging for survival amid a perpetual war between superpowered machines and biomechanical minions. I suppose it could be compared to a lot of movies, TV shows, and games with existential themes tied to the rapid advancement of high-technology and AI, but Metal Gear Solid 4 and Zone of the Enders were quick to my mind watching the trailer for The Forever Winter. I mean, there's a point in the trailer where a giant mecha seemingly poops out a bunch of zombie-like soldiers, and if that ain't Kojima, I don't know what is.
It also struck me as particularly Kojima-esque that Fun Dog Studios describes its debut title as experimental, boundary-pushing, and potentially part of a "new renaissance in game development" in an interview with VentureBeat.
"I honestly have had the most fun in game development in the place where you can do a lot of rapid iteration and quickly prototype new things, and kind of push it," said CEO and creative director Miles Williams. "I felt like a lot of the studios, back in the day, give or take 15 to 20 years ago, were pushing the envelope. They were pushing the envelope on a lot of new mechanics, or a lot of new systems like, and it felt very much like a Renaissance."
Of course, without any gameplay footage, it's difficult to determine exactly how The Forever Winter is experimenting and pushing boundaries. On paper, it sounds like like it might belong safely in the camp of recent squad-based shooters with hordes of enemies and extraction-type missions, not unlike Helldivers 2, but again, until we see some actual gameplay it's hard to define what it is beyond the vague description on Steam.
"Use your wits, stealth, and skilled gunplay to make it out alive," the store page reads. "Choose your path in the shadow of the two great superpowers, loot the dead, and make it out alive. While the warring factions may ignore you at first, the more disruptive you become to their goals, the more they'll seek to remove you from the equation."
Still, the oppressively bleak atmosphere and promises of advanced enemy AI that can "intelligently react to your actions," not to mention the impressive pedigree of the development team, is enough to put it on my upcoming games radar. There's no release date yet, but Fun House Studios promises a gameplay showcase "soon."
In the meantime, here are the best horror games to send a chill down your spine.
As Remedy nearly breaks even with Alan Wake 2 sales, Sam Lake tells investors "we strive to create commercial hits" but "we must never lose" the studio's special sauce
Sorry We're Closed review: "Resident Evil 4 and Silent Hill can't match this neon-soaked survival horror for its sheer inventiveness"
