There have been a lot of survival horror games over the last few years, and from zombies to ghosts to all sorts of supernatural monstrosities, they’ve had us squaring off against plenty of nightmarish enemies. With the upcoming Greyhill Incident though, developer Refugium Games is looking to put a different twist on things. Turning its attention to the threat of an alien invasion and UFO abductions, Greyhill Incident is looking like an exciting prospect, while its emphasis on atmosphere, resource management, and exploration also sounds promising. To learn more about the game and what will make it tick, we recently reached out to its developer with some of our questions. You can read our interview with game director Aaron Roller below.
"With Greyhill Incident, we’re not only having an indie survival horror game which covers the unique and classic alien/UFO topic, but also having one which isn’t a fully stealth, run & hide game."
Survival horror games are obviously big right now, but we don’t see an awful lot of them where you’re straight up crossing paths with aliens as the primary enemies. What led to that creative decision, and how would you say that sets Greyhill Incident apart from others in the genre?
Yeah, there are a lot of survival horror games with zombies and so on but there aren’t any which cover aliens. It’s a shame that there weren’t any survival horror games which cover aliens before. Many gamers, especially alien/UFO fans, including us, waited years for something within this topic. With Greyhill Incident, we’re not only having an indie survival horror game which covers the unique and classic alien/UFO topic, but also having one which isn’t a fully stealth, run & hide game. In Greyhill, players are able to defend themselves using weapons.
How will Greyhill Incident approach combat? We know that players will be starting out with a baseball bat and a pistol, but will there be addition weapons to pick up later on in the game?
Combat isn’t the main focus of Greyhill and we wanted to keep the player’s resources very limited. The revolver and the baseball bat are the only weapons Ryan has and they should only be used if there isn’t any other way out.
What can you tell us about Greyhill Incident’s stealth mechanics? How much freedom will players have during encounters with enemies in how they want to approach situations between combat and stealth?
The player has to manage the ammo as it’s very limited. So the player will have to use it wisely. But of course, it’s up to the player, they could use it balanced over the game or save the ammo in the beginning to play more offensive later in the game.
"With Greyhill Incident we’re telling an invasion story which focuses on the Greys who invade an outlying village."
Given the fact that the primary enemies in Greyhill Incident will be aliens, what should players expect from the game in terms of enemy variety, and the unique threats they will pose and how players will have to deal with them?
Greyhill Incident focuses on the “Greys”, the kind of aliens most “abductees” described after their encounter. With Greyhill Incident we’re telling an invasion story which focuses on the Greys who invade an outlying village.
How much of an emphasis will the game place on exploration? Will levels be large enough to provide players with plenty of opportunities on that front?
Exploring is a big part of Greyhill. It’s not an open world game, but the open areas of Greyhill are big enough to let the players approach plenty of ways to solve the tasks.
Roughly how long will an average playthrough of the game be?
An average playthrough will take the player roughly four and a half hours.
"Exploring is a big part of Greyhill. It’s not an open world game, but the open areas of Greyhill are big enough to let the players approach plenty of ways to solve the tasks."
What frame rate and resolution will the game target on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S?
Between 50 and 60 FPS.