Shinji Mikami’s next project, a mysterious survival horror game code-named Zwei, has been silent for some time now. When I don’t hear anything from a game I tend to get a little paranoid, and outside of some concept art, (or doodles, rather) Mikami and friends haven’t peeped a word since its unveiling last April. Horror games are notorious for being the first to get the axe — just look at Del Toro’s InSane, which continues its search for a publisher — because they’re never guaranteed to sell well.

The lack of new footage, screenshots, or trailers is understandable since the game is still very early in development, but what worries me the most is how barren its website is. No marketing push is being made for this game, no one’s trying to build up a community or interest by maintaining a healthy Twitter, Facebook, or official blog. That’s scary.

If you’re unfamiliar with it, Zwei is a survival horror game from the man who brought us Resident Evil. He also headed the franchise reboot with Resident Evil 4, and recently collaborated with punk-rock designer Suda 51 on Shadows of the Damned and Lollipop Chainsaw. He’s had a huge impact on the horror genre, and since this could very well end up being his last game (he’s mentioned retiring from game directing after one more project), fans of the genre should have this on their radars. I know I do.

On the Zwei website there’s a big quote from Mikami which reads “I’ve found my focus and once again I’m striving for pure survival horror.”

If you miss the days of old, when item conservation and an aptitude for puzzle-solving were key, then this could very well end up being the game I’ve heard so many horror fans ask for lately. If anyone can make an excellent survival horror game, it’s going to be the mind behind one of the greatest survival horror games of all time, right?

Shinji Mikami is committed to making a game that is the realization of pure survival horror, an experience which he defines as one that pushes the limits of fear and exhilaration. He and his team at Tango are committed to attaining this vision.”

We haven’t seen anything from the game other than the aforementioned doodles and some rough environmental collages. Feel free the check those out below:

What makes this game a little more exciting is the fact that it’s a collaborative effort between Mikami’s Tango Gameworks studio and Bethesda, which purchased Tango back in 2010. This means more resources for Mikami, and that’s a obviously a very good thing.

The last we heard of Zwei was in an interview with Japanese gaming mag Famitsu back in May, where Mikami gave an update on the status of the game, saying “At present, we’ve at last cleared the initial phase. Regarding art creation, we’re already getting a very good atmosphere. We’re extremely confident about the graphics this time. Of course, we can’t recreate the same quality as shown in these image boards, but we can deliver game screens with atmosphere that is close to this. There are still mountains of inadequate areas, though, so we’ll have to work with the designers on brushing these up.” Mikami told Famitsu. Incidentally, a ‘Mountain of inadequate area’ was my nickname in college.

Sadly, that’s all we know about it so far. What would you like to see from what could very possibly be Mikami’s last game?

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