We’ve simply had the possibility to stroll by way of the twisted streets of Silent Hill once more in Silent Hill 2’s remake, however with Slitterhead we’ll swiftly get one other alternative to fastidiously tread by way of streets unknown, albeit in a extra action-orientated expertise. Slitterhead is hotly anticipated, not least as a result of the sport is being developed by business icons with a long time of horror recreation expertise, but in addition there’s a way of ‘what the hell is occurring’ from the sport’s trailers and video previews.
Builders are Staff Silent Alumni
Yep, this most likely hasn’t handed you by: Tokyo based mostly Bokeh Recreation Studio Inc. was based by Keiichiro Toyama, Sato Kazunobu, and Junya Okura, the haunted minds behind iconic horror collection’ Silent Hill and Siren with the latter additionally engaged on Gravity Rush. Terror runs by way of Slitterhead’s DNA because of this trio’s expertise, with Toyama’s ‘battle-action’ moniker for the upcoming title evidently imbued with Gravity Rush’s physics defying motion.
The premise
Going down within the dense, cluttered, neon-lit metropolis Kowlong, Slitterhead duties you with eradicating the streets from a shapeshifting menace. The eponymous parasitic monsters have invaded, and so they’re disguising themselves as peculiar residents. You’re a shapeshifter too although, capable of possess people at your will to fight the lurid Slitterheads in a The Factor vs The Factor-type matchup. As Slitterhead progresses you’ll uncover the thriller behind your existence plus be taught the origin of the Slitterhead’s look. Of notice, Slitterhead shouldn’t be an open world recreation. As a substitute, gameplay will comprise a extra conventional – presumably linear – mission construction.
Kowlong – intimately
A steaming community of environment and intrigue, Slitterhead’s Kowlong is imaginary; conjured out of the thoughts of Keiichiro Toyama and his curiosity within the former walled metropolis of Kowloon. Demolished in 1993, the Kowloon Walled Metropolis was a lawless place whose legacy has seeped into a bunch of media, from anime mainstay Ghost within the Shell to extra not too long ago the subterranean slums of Stray. Toyama notes in Bokeh Recreation Studio’s 10-minute primer Kowlong Specific: Bringing Forgotten Fragments into Slitterhead that Kowloon, while being a spot of chaos, additionally exhibited order in its development. Its design was dualistic, with neon frontage flanked by dust and alleyways, dysfunction Toyama reads as thriller lurking out of sight.
Hyoki
Boundless entity Hyoki descends on Kowlong similar to the Slitterheads, and though this spirit is bereft of reminiscences, he holds one intention: to eradicate each final one in every of these monstrous shapeshifters. His mission has him assuming the type of Kowlong’s peculiar residents very similar to the Slitterheads, however – while arguably morally gray – his intentions seem like well-meaning. As we’ve already stated although, enjoying by way of Slitterhead’s narrative guarantees to disclose extra about bodiless Hyoki, his origins and the explanations behind his goal.
Possession system
From Slitterhead’s Steam web page: Hyoki is “devoid of bodily type”, his potential permitting him to “possess and management human our bodies at will, turning the folks wandering the town into pawns.” We see this energy in motion throughout Slitterhead’s trailers, a yellow beam emitting from host to host, granting Hyoki energy to dissolve by way of limitations, infiltrate in any other case untraversable areas, and warp by way of Kowlong’s streets at excessive pace. Some nifty fight manoeuvres see him flick between a number of people as they tackle one in every of Slitterhead’s extra substantial monsters in tandem.
Fight with the ability of blood
Hyoki will have interaction in battle by harnessing the ability of blood, exhumed from the spent life drive of burned human our bodies. Throughout battles, a bunch’s blood – functioning roughly like your possessed human’s HP – will be consumed to generate Blood Weapons. Blocking and counter hanging by way of the sport’s Deflect method will show very important actions for survival, as will routinely swapping between hosts when the delicate people attain their physique’s breaking level. Blocking an excessive amount of with Hyoki’s Blood Weapon will finally trigger it to shatter, whereas profitable counterattacks will restore their sturdiness.
Rarities
All through Slitterhead Hyoki might want to ally with what Bokeh Recreation Studio dub ‘Rarities’. These are particular people who share a excessive sync with Hyoki, and their possession offers him alternative to unleash much more highly effective assaults alongside varied particular talents distinctive to every Rarity by way of outfitted Lively Expertise. Some missions can solely be accomplished with particular rarities in tow, presumably as a result of their particular expertise – highly effective assaults which deplete blood degree, for example – are integral for that mission’s success. What’s extra, a deepening cooperation and understanding with these Rarities offers Hyoki – and thus you the participant – a broader overview of the mysteries nestled deep inside Kowlong.
Rarity in-depth: Julee
Fatally wounded and set for sure loss of life till revived by Hyoki, Julee is the primary Rarity encountered in Slitterhead. An enigmatic, hooded younger lady, Julee’s most distinguished characteristic in battle are her outsized blood claws which she will use to generate a lethal shockwave at her enemies. Different expertise embody the time-slowing ‘Blood Ripper’ and a revive potential whereby she boosts her personal blood provide while therapeutic any people on the verge of loss of life by way of extending an umbilical blood hyperlink.
Rarity in-depth: Alex
The mysterious Alex additionally goes by the moniker “The Hunter”, and he’s seen most prominently within the recreation’s previews donning a bike helmet and shotgun. His expertise embody ‘Blood Nicely’ with a gravity subject composed of blood drawing Slitterheads and peculiar residents alike to its centre. ‘Time Bomb’ affixes an explosive system on an opponent while ‘Bloody Blast’ sprays a bathe of blood bullets from his trusty shotgun.
Ability tokens
Uncommon our bodies will be enhanced by way of collectible Ability Tokens discovered all through Kowlong, enabling Hyoki to power his bonded allies in particular areas earlier than taking up new missions. These Ability Tokens may also be spent unlocking new expertise, with this RPG-like aspect offering differing gameplay experiences relying on the talents you pursue. Price noting underneath this level is that peculiar, non-rarity people share non-distinct expertise throughout the board
Detecting Slitterheads
Sure, the Slitterheads will masquerade as people ambling Kowlong’s streets as regular, however their presence will be detected by way of phenomena within the metropolis’s environment, a disturbed airflow for example. Hyoki can observe these currents if he’s on the hunt for a Slitterhead. What’s extra, in a reimagining of Siren’s sightjacking, Hyoki can sightjack Slitterheads too, stealing a look by way of their visual view and guessing their location based mostly on the surroundings of their neighborhood.
There might be gore
You could have seen already however Slitterhead is about to be a bloody and gory expertise. Reportedly, some early previewers have discovered the scarlet viscera too stomach-churning to proceed. Though, after all, this can be hyperbole it’s inescapable Slitterhead accommodates a ton of gore and physique horror.
Akira Yamaoka onboard for the sport’s soundtrack
A reputation with substantial heft, there’s a purpose Staff Silent’s iconic in-house composer has featured so prominently in Slitterhead’s advertising. His soundtracks imbue the strain and environment this model of horror elicits; the murky haze and shuffling beats of Silent Hill 2, the metronomic nervousness of The Medium, the kaleidoscopic brilliance of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Yamaoka-san has a knack for encapsulating essence and character, and his involvement right here is an indication of Slitterhead’s high quality and a sign of the religion we must always put in Bokeh Recreation Studio’s debut title.
Launch date and platform data
Slitterhead will launch on November 8th to PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Sequence X|S, plus PC by way of Steam. The sport’s really helpful PC necessities embody an Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 5 2600X processor, 16GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 or AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT GPU, plus 30GB of space for storing.
Pre-order and version variations
Console pre-orders at the moment are dwell, while the PC model can solely – on the time of writing – be wishlisted on Steam. Recreation variations are as follows: there’s a typical version for each PlayStation and Xbox, a deluxe version which grants 72-hour early entry, a Toyama annotated digital artbook and a replica of Yamaoka’s 10-song soundtrack. The PS5 unique bodily solely Slitterhead Day 1 Version contains the soundtrack on CD, a 100-page artwork e-book, stickers, a customized field, plus the sport itself.
