Middle East, 2003: A team of Special Forces, Marines and CIA clashes with Iraqis. During the ferocious guerrilla warfare, due to a sudden earthquake, both factions sink into a chasm and find themselves trapped in the depth of the earthin an ancient cursed temple.
This is the opening words of House of Ashesthe new title of the horror anthology of Supermassive Games coming this year to Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S, PS4, PC and PS5.
During a live on Youtubethe Game Director Will Doyle introduced the new chapter of the The Dark Pictures Anthology. After the legends related to the witch hunt that we tasted in the previous title, Little Hope, House of Ashes instead takes us to explore the ancient myth related to Naram-Sin, the emperor who reigned around 2250 BC in Mesopotamia. After looting a sacred temple, the gods cursed his people. The sovereign then had the majestic built Akkad temple to appease their anger, but the building was ruinously swallowed up underground. That same place is now a den of monstrous threats.
As pointed out by Will Doyle, House of Ashes is, as per tradition, a story totally disconnected from its two predecessors and can therefore be experienced as a horror experience in its own right. The inspirations for this new adventure come from both cinema (Aliens, Predator, The Descent) that from literature (HP Lovecraft, “The Mountains of Madness“).
After introducing the new group of playable characters and the main dynamics of the gameplay, the Game Director moved on to list some of the major Announcements that characterize this third chapter: the camera is now free at 360 degrees, for a more immersive exploration thanks to the use of the flashlight, which will help the player to see the darkest ravines of the subsoil. You can choose between three several difficulties and also the speed of Quick Time Events is now adjustable, to allow players more or less accustomed to enjoy the experience to the fullest. The four game modes: Shared Story, to play online with friends, Movie Night, to play locally for up to 5 participants, and the two single player modes Original Version and Curator’s Cut, with the latter allowing you to relive the adventure by discovering the point of view of other characters.
After Will Doyle’s introduction, the live stream took us to the heart of the action, showing us one of the opening sequences of the gameplay. The two protagonists are the reconnaissance Marine Nick and his partner Jason, just sunk in the abyss and looking for an escape route. As can be seen from the video, the player will find himself exploring claustrophobic tunnels And large spaces that leave you totally exposed. The “premonitions”, Which are activated when certain objects are found during exploration and provide clues about the characters’ possible future violent deaths.
To survive during the adventure, the player will be faced with agitated situations and moral dilemmas in which it will serve loyalty, cooperation and trust to be able to save all the protagonists. The threat, this time, is twofold: there is the enemy faction, but there are also the monstrous creatures of the underground to put a strain on the players’ coronaries. Will men be able to team up to survive the beasts?
