Polish developer Madmind Studio recently released a new trailer to announce their game Αγωνία. It’s an Unreal Engine 4-powered first-person, horror-survival game set in Hell.
Players will need to navigate the hellscape as a damned soul, embodying lesser demons and other pitiful creatures scavenging to survive in the land of tormented. ΜόνοSP caught wind of the recent announcement trailer that was posted up on YouTube, and you can check it out below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhMbT_hksGQ&feature=youtu.be
The trailer seems to center around a soul that can’t escape from Hell, but is constantly being thrust back down into the depths of the land of fire.
As far as the imagery is concerned, Αγωνία looks gorgeous. The shot of the player-character above the vortex of swirling despair was breathtaking. It’s one of the few times we get a glimpse of the netherworld in such a vast and all-encompassing way. Most times the afterlife is always viewed as a contained experience, small and linear. Even Η κόλαση του Δάντη had the problem of making Hell look like tour through Bowser’s secret S&M dungeon as opposed to feeling like a vast, horrific world all its own.
As far as the gameplay is concerned, we don’t get to see any of it. It appears as if it may be one of those titles that once again limits Hell to linear pathways and small corridors, although I’m really hoping that’s not the case. The intro video above gave gamers the impression that this would be one of those rare occasions where covers the wide scope of a world about pain and suffering instead of limiting it to just hallways and rooms.
Visually, though, the developers definitely seem to have an eye for cinematic appeal. The journey down into the depths of Hell was a graphical feat, giving viewers just enough of a glimpse at some of the disturbing imagery where it almost seemed necessary to turn away but there was the lure of wanting to see more. It reminded me a lot of Tarsem Singh’s Το τηλέφωνο.
The biggest issue is that we just don’t get any kind of gameplay, so it’s all really a toss-up as to what kind of horror and survival elements players will encounter. Will it be a string-along walking simulator like λεπτό Man or Το Πάρκο? Will it be mid-core like Επιζώ or Αμνησία: Μια μηχανή για χοίρους? Or will it be an out-and-out survival game like έργο Zomboid or Το Δάσος?
I’m hoping it’s closer to the likes of Red Barrels’ Outlast 2 Απ 'ότι είναι λεπτό Man, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough, likely at this year’s GamesCom.
Αγωνία is due for release sometime in 2017 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. To keep up to date on the game and its development progress, feel free to visit the Επίσημη ιστοσελίδα.
