When the makers of Bulletstorm split from their former studio, People Can Fly, they formed a new company called The Astronauts. Since then, they've been quietly working on a new game that most of us assumed to be a first person shooter like the games they used to make at their former studio.
Today, The Astronauts has announced that they are working on what they call a 'weird fiction horror' game titled The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. It's the farthest thing away from a first person shooter, and not a title I would've expected from them. In case you were wondering, weird fiction horror is a genre popularized in pulp-fiction collections of the 1920s—you know, H.P. Lovecraft.
The trailer can be seen below:
Here's the description:
"As a detective with the supernatural ability to visualize scenes of lethal crimes, you investigate the kidnapping of a young boy, hoping to save him before it’s too late. The investigation leads you to a beautiful mountain area, where you come across a severely mutilated body of one of the kidnappers. Using both your paranormal skill and modern detective tools you discover the mystery behind the trail of corpses in the valley, the roots of an ancient force ruling the area, and the fate of the kidnapped boy."
“What we care about the most is that the players feel like they’re really there. Immersion is our number one priority," said the game’s designer, Adrian Chmielarz. “It’s a game about exploration and discovery. We’re not abandoning the gameplay – on the contrary: we’re trying to strip it down to the bone and make sure it’s always meaningful and truly makes the experience better.”
The game is being developed in Unreal Engine 3. Further details about the game's release platforms will be unveiled in the coming months.
