Doorways: Holy Mountains Of Flesh Adds New Horrors
What's behind the Doorways?
I first discovered horror game Doorways [official site] at E3 a couple of years back when Argentinian developer Saibot Studios qualified for the inaugural Indies Crash E3 initiative. At the time, all Saibot had to show was a demo which looked interesting, albeit heavily inspired by Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Later that year, Doorways' first couple of chapters landed on Steam; I was fond of them, but they were a little over-reliant on jump scares. So it was nice to see the developers take stock before releasing the far more accomplished Doorways: The Underworld last year, and the Holy Mountains Of Flesh series earlier this year - the second act of which is out now.
Playing as investigative agent Thomas Foster, Doorways tasks you with exploring a series of crime scenes, uncovering clues and relying on the protagonist's supernatural ability to relive the torturous ordeals before your suffering eyes in what is a very literal take on the 'if I want to catch the killer, I must become the killer' idea. Split into three acts, Holy Mountains Of Flesh marks the last Doorways episode to involve Foster, as he visits the remote mountain village of El Chacal in search of Juan "The Roaster" Torres and his criminal/very unwelcoming of special agents with special powers family.
Besides some general fixes, the new update introduces the "Transition Map" which is ultimately a new area that bridges the main story locales - The School, The Mansion and The Temple. Whilst it's over-zealously described as "a group of floating islands over fire and magma, in a desolated world of flames," the new area looks something like this:
Doorways chapters 1-3 can be got via the number of ways listed on Saibot's website, whilst Doorways: Holy Mountains Of Flesh is available on Steam Early Access for £6.99. Saibot expect it'll be in Early Access for another few months - a third act is still to come.