First Look at the Slasher Film Inspired Red Awakening
The slasher genre, though one of the most financially successful sub-genres of horror, has been virtually ignored by the video game world. It’s been decades since Friday the 17th was released on NES and even longer since its very fun Commodore 64 incarnation.
But slashers are about to make a big splash with the recently revealed Until Dawn and the upcoming title from Domino Effect, Red Awakening.
Red Awaking is a stealth-based first person shooter that focuses very heavily on movement. Developers want the game to move away from the cliché run and gun style of first person shooter multiplayer and focus on “horror, stealth, and subterfuge.”
The game takes place after the Vietnam War with captured American delinquents and imprisoned Communists forced to fight to the death. The whole thing is being captured on video by the American government, who uses the footage to create snuff films. The game will break down into two teams of five characters, East and West. It’s easy to see the game’s violent and horrific influence with character names like Loomis, Pliskin, and Molotov.
Its artistic style is where the game has placed its slasher influence, as a developer stated, “The art style is very influenced by slasher movies from the 80’s and 90’s.” Domino Effect has released two developer diaries showing off the game’s movement and weapons.
The movement demo reveals an intriguing feature of Red Awakening, the ability to run along walls. This new addition will provide another layer to the game’s stealth aspect as players must now worry about enemies lying in wait on any feature of the map. This coincides with the big push for verticality in next-gen shooters.
The demo takes on a horror feel as it shows off the game’s combat states. Normally the sky is blue, but once the player is spotted, it changes to purple and is accompanied by a foreboding baseline. If combat ensues, the screen burns a horrific red and the once foreboding baseline becomes downright monstrous.
The second demo gives a closer look at weapon types and explores the asylum map. Developers revealed that every player will begin the game with a knife and will have to collect all other weapons, which are scattered across the map. Weapons are divided into five categories, all given a colour. Pink for primary weapons, blue for secondary weapons, white for stealth weapons, purple for explosives, and green for chemical weapons.
A Red Awakening pre-alpha will be at the Insomnia Gaming Festival this weekend in the UK. The game will be available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. No word has been given on a release date.
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