Six of the key developers behind 2000’s ‘No One Lives Forever’ and 2005’s gem ‘F.E.A.R.’ are behind a new monochrome horror indie offering slated for later this year on Steam. The game ‘Betrayer’ will come out of their new studio, Blackpowder Games.
The game is set in the colonial era in North America, and sees the story fleshed out with musket bearing ghostly conquistadors, with clues only brought to the player’s attention through the blood red splatter of objects of interest. The time period was chosen, according to creative lead Craig Hubbard, due to the eeriness and brutality of pilgrim society in an interview with PC Gamer:
“I don’t know if you’ve read about what it was like to be in the Pilgrim colonies, like if you broke the law, but they’d like… pile stones on you until you died. It was just brutal and horrific and that’s great subject matter for an atmospheric and eerie game.”
It’s hard not to expect the choice of context and reasons behind it won’t come to fruition given how utterly terrifying Alma was in ‘F.E.A.R.’. Mix this with the restrained, disorientating art direction and FPS pedigree at the helm, and the game’s promotional material isn’t giving much away, and that’s for the best, as this looks to be one chalked up for the calendar.
Betrayer releases through Steam Early Access on the 14th of August.
