Survival Horror Ashen Falls Is Pretty, Spooky In Concept

If there's one genre I'll always get overly excited for, be too keen to hope for the best in, and be disappointed by, it's supernatural survival horror. Silent Hill has been rubbo for years, and hopes for Silent Hills and its first-person teaser PT are crushed after Konami confirmed they've cancelled the Guillermo del Toro and Hideo Kojima game (not that it was announced for PC). Quick, Alice: pin your hopes on something new! Look, look at Ashen Falls [Facebook page]!

The survival horror starring a teen girl in a spooky abandoned town is still quite firmly in pre-production, with only a load of concept art to show for itself, but what concept art!

Creator Gilles Ketting, a concept artist and illustrator who's worked on series including Overlord and Total War, explains the setup by introducing its main character, Lucy 'Haze' Williams:

"It's been more than a year after she lost her girlfriend in a fire and is taking the first steps to continue life without her. She feels that a part of herself died in that fire, she struggles with her own identity and place in the world. In an attempt to leave her comfort zone and follow her passion for photography she embarks on a trip with a group of urban explorers to Ashen Falls."

Gosh, it sure would be awkward if this spooky town somehow turned out to reflect her psyche! Say, I wonder why the latest enemy concepts include a fireman (also, that cubist lady is amazing):

Also on the docket: spooky runes in spooky ruins:

Spooky cultists in spooky woods:

And other fine things you'll find in higher quality on Ketting's site.

Yes, yes it's all concept art for now, but these are my dreams we're talking about, man. He says there's more we haven't seen, that they've been prototyping gameplay too, and teases more info is "coming soon" and yes, I would like to see that.

For now, perhaps I'll fire up Deadly Premonition again, a survival horror which manages to be both deeply wonderful and hugely disappointing. But I've written about that before.