Fade To Silence is cold and full of monsters
Snow business
I'm glad there are no monsters in The Long Dark. It's my favourite survival game and even though I've often found myself wishing there were a ghost in the attic of my latest shelter, or an enormous shape blotting out the stars and moon, I'm not really keen on Lovecraftian tentacles creeping into every corner of my life. An eternal winter and angry wolves provide enough threat and fear to keep me on my frostbitten toes.
Fade To Silence, just announced by THQ Nordic, brings some eldritch horrors into a world of snowy survival and you can get a first look at it below ahead of its Early Access launch next week.
What's it all about then? Well, you play Ash (but not Evil Dead Ash) and you're trapped in a situation so bad they had to use a hashtag to describe it.
"In Fade to Silence, players survive as Ash, a natural leader who must battle eldritch monsters and the elements in a post-apocalyptic environment blanketed in #EndlessWinter. Early Access launch will introduce players to the concept of simple mission as full expedition, whether collecting materials, upgrading equipment, building your camp or defeating horrific supernatural creatures, players will continually struggle to navigate dynamic, accumulating snow, real-time snow trails, and completely immersive weather effects such as blizzards."
The trailer makes it all look a bit lonely but there's not much point in being a natural leader unless you've got someone to lead. As development continues through Early Access, Ash's social side will be developed alongside his survival skills.
"We intend to bring Steam players consistent and meaningful content updates throughout development, layering on new areas, followers, missions, monsters, and increasingly complex social events – events that demand moral decision-making on the part of the player."
I can't figure out if this'll be more like The Long Dark with monsters or State of Decay with snow. I'll admit to being excited about the snow though - it might sound strange to be more interested in "accumulating snow" and "real-time trails" than I am about the monsters and camp-building, but then so be it. Weird is where I live.
Black Forest Games are the studio creating Fade to Silence. They were the team behind Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams and, in their previous incarnation as Spellbound, many of the team worked on Desperados and its sequel.