This 14th Of November: This War Of Mine
Hold out for the end of the siege come November 14th.
What a left turn This War of Mine is. 11 bit studios previously made the markedly un-serious Anomaly games, festivals of tactical explosions, air-strikes and all the other hoo-rah wargasms we're generally exposed to. A sombre survival game exploring the vulnerability of civilians trapped in warzones wasn't where I would have pegged them to go next.
These twists on the formula are where I'm finding my interest in survival games peaking. As Pip pointed out in her interview with senior writer Pawel Miechowski, it's taking what zombies have long been a metaphor for and going literal. Now 11 bit have announced we'll get to be war-torn on November 14th and thrown a trailer into the mix as well.
It's not the first footage of the game, there having been a preview build swanning around on YouTube and Twitch for some time, but I'll take any excuse to show off that art. 11 bit have nailed the look of urban warfare. It's cold and depressing, everything pockmarked and damaged, unfit as a living space but forced into being one. Hopefully they manage to craft stories and systems worthy of it. They certainly seem to be treating the subject matter with the respect it demands.
You can grab it now through GamesRepublic or wait for it to pop up on Steam.