Not-So-Lone Survivor: Claire Brings The Scares

Adam and I will forever be locked in an eternal struggle to heap more oodles of praise atop Jasper Byrne's magnificently spooky, massively powerful Lone Survivor, and so I will continue our gentleman's war indirectly by noting that I'm really excited about Claire. It's got all the right ingredients: side-scrolling, lavishly detailed horror, survival mechanics like food, sleep, and caffeine, a nausea-inducing panic system, and - perhaps to counterbalance that - a puppy! Claire and her pet German Shepherd brave the hungry darkness together, coming across (and potentially "redeeming") all sorts of fascinatingly mad characters in the process. Clutch feebly at your blood-slick resolve and brave the break for a quick trailer.

Not much to go on, but then horror is all about our inherent fear of the unknown. Best not to reveal too much, I think. Here, however, is the gist:

"Claire is lost and terrified as she and her dog find themselves in a warped reality that is a nightmarish reflection of their own. Alone and hunted from an unknown force lurking in the darkness, Claire's only hope comes from helping the forlorn people she comes across. But as Claire searches for a way out, she begins to unravel a connection between herself, the people she is trying to redeem and the force stalking her from the shadows."

The goal, then, is to redeem as many people as possible from Claire's youth into adulthood via actions and dialogue options. Depending on how successful you are, you'll open up all sorts of possible endings, meaning - among other things - that there are waaaaaay too many possible scenarios in which the dog could die. Can someone bring me a basket of puppies to cradle? I have a feeling that I'm going to need it.

Claire will be out in the next couple months, and you can vote it up on Steam Greenlight right now. If nothing else, it certainly sounds promising. What do you think?