A.I.L.A.

A.I.L.A. is an upcoming sci-fi psychological horror from Sao Paulo based Pulsatrix Studio. Set in an uncanny near-distant future where advanced AI creates digital horror experiences, A.I.L.A. promises to tap into your inner psyche, establish your biggest fears and tug them to terrifying effect. There’s a sense from gameplay revealed so far that players will have a hard time distinguishing between virtual threats and real-life danger. No word on release windows or platforms yet as it seems Pulstrix Studio still need financial backing to finish the project off. Let’s hope they get there as A.I.L.A.’s creepy first-person perspectives look truly horrifying.

Paranormal Tales

Undoubtably inspired by now-vintage found footage horror movie The Blair Witch Project, with a sprinkling of Hideo Kojima’s P.T., Paranormal Tales is a next-gen horror daring players play through tragic tales of missing persons, experienced from the viewpoint of bodycams, mobile phones, and VHS cameras. Developer Digital Cybercherries are utilising Unreal Engine 5 to, in their words, create a sense of hyper-realism. Release date is to be announced, but Paranormal Tales can be wishlisted on Steam now.  

Layers of Fear

Bloober Team’s narrative-driven psychological horror is returning soon to tell its final bone-chilling tale. Comprising Layers of Fear and Layers of Fear 2 rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5, plus DLC with brand new stories ‘The Final Note’ and ‘The Writer’ offering fresh perspectives on an already iconic series. Layers of Fear’s recent tech demo showcases ray tracing, HDR, 4K resolution and Unreal Engine 5 exclusive features such as Lumen dynamic lighting and Niagara real-time VFX, crafting an immersive, blood curdling environment. Layers of Fear will be out in June on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

Stray Souls  

Blending Alan Wake style psychological horror with Soulslike combat is the atmospheric, third-person action horror Stray Souls. There’s an air of eeriness in the game’s haunted town too, immediately conjuring memories of Silent Hill; ghoulish forests and crumbling, dilapidated suburbs are said by developer Jukai Studio to harbour a well of secrets waiting to be unearthed. Stray Souls makes ample use of Unreal Engine 5’s advanced facial animation innovation MetaHuman too, exaggerating fear with unprecedented photorealism and human emotion. Stray Souls is targeting a 2023 release, with PlayStation, Xbox, and Windows platforms announced.

Quantum Error

Cosmic horror FPS Quantum Error tells the story of daring Californian firefighters sent on a rescue mission to save survivors marooned on a mysterious offshore research facility, a sordid place where things unravelled after attack from an unknown entity. Heavily influenced by Dead Space, with maybe a dose of Metal Gear Solid for good measure, Quantum Error’s intergalactic happenstance look deeply unsettling and atmospheric. Originally targeting a 2022 release, Quantum Error still hasn’t arrived although official gameplay has recently surfaced indicating it’s at least on the horizon. It’ll be playable on Xbox and PlayStation when it finally does come out.

Wronged Us

Indebted to classic survival horror series Silent Hill, Wronged Us tasks players with tiptoeing through the darkness of a rotten town through the eyes of Isaac as he investigates chilling rumours of his dead son’s presence. This open-world survival horror from Delusional Studio is also said to take inspiration from Dark Souls’ quest design, so expect intense combat, challenging puzzles, and a ton of creepy crawlies lying in wait to kill you in a hostile environment. Although there’s no release window yet, Wronged Us has been announced for PlayStation and Xbox platforms plus PC via Steam.

EXP: War Trauma

EXP – shorthand for experience – War Trauma is an upcoming psychological horror from Brazilian dev team Cortez Productions. Assuming command of traumatised World War II veteran Krieger, players must navigate through a strange and mysterious apartment, establishing clues and solving riddles to eventually unravel Krieger’s psyche. With no weapons, Krieger is effectively defenceless against the harmful apparitions lurking down dimly lit corridors. Listed as coming soon on Steam, there’s a playable demo available right now.

Level Zero

Intriguingly described as an asymmetrical survival horror PvP, Level Zero’s premise is simple: a team of four scientists must work together to repair broken objectives to escape a dank facility all whilst evading the clutches of an opposing team of monsters; monsters capable of skulking in the darkness, stealthily eradicating light sources which the scientists depend on to survive. Unreal Engine 5’s dynamic global lighting systems are put to good use here, the contrast between neon and shadow a captivating battle between opposing teams. Scheduled for release in 2023 to PlayStation, Xbox, and PC via Steam.

File Destined  

Psychological detective thriller File Destined features an impressive story with visceral locations, and boy does Unreal Engine 5 do a good job of portraying the unnerving realism of a corridor cloaked in darkness. Clue gathering in the dangerous carbon blackness eventually unravels a deep mystery, with the truth according to developer Metavision Studio being disturbing and unexpected. File Destined is already out and playable on PC via Steam, with positive user reviews highlighting nerve-shredding tension littered with jump scares.

Fort Solis

Fort Solis glooms in sickly red; saturated neon unnervingly illuminates the confines of a docile Martian base, red dust hanging in the air, every viewpoint conjuring a deep sense of isolation and desperation. Whilst developer Fallen Leaf recently shared a first official look at gameplay with barely a second’s worth of actual third-person gameplay Fort Solis still looks stunning, the act of tentatively treading through dark corridors set to be a haunting experience. Coming in Q3 2023 to PlayStation 5 and Windows.

ROUTINE

This first-person sci-fi horror plunges players deep inside an abandoned lunar base, entrenched in the aesthetics of an 80’s vision of the future. Tentative exploration descends into a desperate need for survival, with immersion heightened by full body awareness and deadzone aiming alongside minimal on-screen UI. ROUTINE is coming to Xbox consoles, plus Windows and Mac via Steam, with no release window announced just yet.

Silent Hill 2 Remake

Recapturing the evocative, isolating atmosphere of the original Silent Hill 2 is no easy task, but Layers of Fear developer Bloober Team’s prowess at rendering realistic environments in Unreal Engine 5 seems like they’ll be the perfect fit. Chilling visuals and visceral sound effects are present and correct, as is a liberal dose of fog. Silent Hill 2 Remake is coming to PlayStation 5 and Windows some time in 2023.

Post Trauma

Both a homage to and modern take on classic survival horror games, Post Trauma’s semi-fixed camera angles evoke a sense of early Resident Evil titles. Assuming command of middle-aged train conductor Roman, players must tread through surreal subterranean locales, exploring blood-bathed surroundings unravelling haunted mysteries whilst coming face to face with a host of nightmarish creatures. Post Trauma’s release date hasn’t been announced yet, but it’s said to be landing on PlayStation, Xbox, and Windows when it does come out.

The Shivers / Demonologist

This upcoming ghost hunting co-op game is currently in early access on Steam, with early adopters citing the game’s unnerving terror as an advantage it has over similarly premised titles. In The Shivers / Demonologist players must identify an evil spirit lurking in cursed locales and exorcise it. Playing in squads of up to four, each run through The Shivers / Demonologist will be unique owing to the random concoction of ghosts skulking through the shadows.

The Hauntings

A rival to The Shivers / Demonologist also on this rundown is The Hauntings, an online co-op investigation and exorcism experience for one to four players. Working together as a team of paranormal investigators, unruly ghosts will need to be identified and removed, however these threatening spectres are able to possess players, distracting and hindering the investigation in unexpected ways. Coming soon to Windows, The Hauntings can be wishlisted on Steam now.

Sons of the Forest

Instead of a full release, Endnight Games’ survival horror sandbox sequel is launching into Steam Early Access on February 23rd to add more features over time and get feedback from the community. There’s already tons to look forward to with this launch, whether it’s the map that’s four times larger than the first game, AI companions, revamped building mechanics, or all the little secrets. Even if it needs some more time to be fully “complete,” Sons of the Forest should be an incredible experience when it arrives later this month for PC.

ANGER FOOT

There might be plenty of first person shooters coming out in the near future, but we doubt many of them will be as gleefully weird as Free Lives and Devolver Digital’s Anger Foot. There’s a lot of fast-paced running and gunning here, of course, and that’s looking suitably exciting, but Anger Foot’s USP is the fact that kicking enemies is just as central to the gameplay. Combining your movement, fast-paced shooting, and kicking action might come together very well in what’s looking like a very intriguing game.

Salt and Sacrifice

Set against the backdrop of a high-fantasy world, this follow-up to the 2016 release Salt and Sanctuary is a more fleshed-out take on FromSoftware’s classics like Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls. In addition to brutal difficulty and gargantuan bosses, Salt and Sacrifice will also feature a healthy assortment of multiplayer options – from summoning other players to engaging in PvP to invading other players’ worlds. In all honesty, it’s Dark Souls – but in 2D.

Salt and Sacrifice releases for PS4, PS5, and PC on May 10th, 2022.

Delusional Studio’s upcoming survival horror game Wronged Us was originally announced at the 2021 Golden Joystick Awards and is looking to be a similarly promising game that takes inspiration from many contemporaries of the genre to create a really tantalizing experience that’s sure to appeal to fans of the genre. That said, it’s still a game that’s pretty complex in its scope and inspirations, so to that effect – we ask the question – what the hell is exactly Wronged Us?

Delusional Studio is a solo-development studio that’s currently working on Wronged Us. Of course, given the current scope of the game – it’s nigh impossible for a single developer to see the project through to completion under a reasonable time frame. As such, Delusional Studio is currently hiring for an external development team, following which the original developer would probably step back into more of a directorial role. The game is currently slated for a 2023 release date for both PC and unconfirmed consoles, although from the looks of it – it seems highly unlikely that Wronged Us will be able to meet its date.

Wronged Us is set against the backdrop of an unnamed Abandoned Town, where horrors lie in both plain sight and undiscovered dark corners. We don’t have any information on the player character – his background, where he came from, his goals, and whatnot – but the developer has confirmed that it would be a cinematic narrative inspired by Konami’s now-dormant Silent Hill franchise. As such, fans should expect a narrative filled to the brim with a spooky townsfolk atmosphere and an ever-looming ominous vibe. Delusional Studio should definitely pay due attention to crafting a memorable and engaging plot; one that’s worthy of its many inspirations.

The gameplay is unsurprising, the star of the show in the case of Wronged Us as well. It looks to be a steaming pot of ideas taken from popular games of the genre alongside some inspirations from unlikely places. Players will be facing a ton of gruesome threats as they roam the game’s many locales, from spooky interiors housing dangerous creatures to vast stretches of settlement housing hostile denizens. You can take down these baddies using standard weapons such as a shotgun in over-the-shoulder gunplay that seems heavily inspired by modern horror games. However, players can also choose to sneak past these horrors by taking cover and moving across rooms undetected – much like Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us.

There seems to be great variety in the enemies that players will face during their travels, from the likes of zombies having deformed faces to headless zombies to gargantuan zombies and then some more. We don’t know anything about bosses as of yet, but it seems fair to expect them to be an integral part of the enemy roster nevertheless.

Delusional Studio has confirmed the game to be an open-world, and players will be able to freely roam the abandoned town at their own will. Wronged Us has taken inspiration from Dark Souls of all things in this department and will feature similar NPC questlines and no map markers for quests. Much like From Software’s titles, there will be no indication of when a particular quest is triggered, how to complete it, and even if it’s complete or not. How it will be implemented in Wronged Us remains to be seen, since it will most likely be a fully open-world while the Souls games feature both linear and non-linear progression through tightly designed levels that employ a ton of behind-the-scenes tricks to guide the player through those looping and labyrinthian worlds.

Wronged Us has been in development for over one and a half years at this point now, and is utilizing Unreal Engine 5 as its basis for development. It’s a powerful tool with a bevy of great effects that developers can utilize in new and innovative ways, and using a pre-built engine also offloads a lot of work allowing the team to focus on the actual development. As a result, despite the very small team size – Wronged Us looks almost photo-realistic. The texture work is incredible and the lighting is also appropriately great for inducing a sense of terror in the player. On the not-so-bright side, facial models can look rather primitive in comparison to the game’s otherwise great presentation. Special mention also needs to be given to Delusional Studio’s great art direction which does a lot of heavy lifting in making the world, its monsters, and ambient-lit interiors appropriately scary.

However, as promising as the game’s concept and its prototypes may sound, one cannot ignore the fact that this looks too ambitious for a small team. While the effort is certainly appreciable – fans are advised to keep expectations in check for now as the game is still in very early development at this point. Delusional Studio has created a lot of premature hype for the game with all of its promising inspirations and a release window, but it all seems to be in an effort to hire staff to get the game completed – although we have no way of knowing that for sure.

The fact that Wronged Us is not only a solo-developed game at this point but also self-published is a cause of concern although not an impossible task. To ship a game of this scale on multiple platforms, Delusional Studio would most likely require additional financial resources – which it most likely hasn’t done until this point. Between having a small team, no publisher backing, and massive ambition – Wronged Us is certainly an impressive game but not worth putting much stock into at the moment. That said, we sincerely hope that it manages to make it to the finish line and garner all the critical and commercial acclaim that it deserves.