News
Bloody ‘Blasphemous’ Smashes Funding Goals
A couple of days ago, developer The Game Kitchen launched their Kickstarter for their bloody 2D action-platformer called Blasphemous. Well, after just three days, the game has smashed its modest goal of $50,000, with over $84,000 in backers, and 27 days left in the campaign.
Blasphemous builds off of The Game Kitchen’s earlier title, The Last Door, with the reliance on pixel-based art, but kicks it into high gear with some truly amazing sprites and animations. That’s only part of the story, as the visuals are something straight out of someone’s nightmares. And don’t forget the plasma, which runs freely in the Kickstarter trailer below.
The story takes place in the land of Orthodoxia. The game has you playing as The Penitent One, a rogue nomad tasked with ridding the evil spread by corrupted church officials of The Twisted One. The game is expected to be out November 2018 on Steam and GOG.com, with future plans for a console release. To learn more about the production, you can head to the game’s Kickstarter page, or head over to the game’s official site.
In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, but it was a cheerful illustrator from England who helped to define the terrifying war-torn imagery that inspired what we now know as Grimdark (a hybrid genre combining horror with sci-fi/fantasy).
Unfortunately for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Trench Crusade and countless other sources of Grimdark thrills, veteran artist John Blanche passed away this week after struggling with health issues for the past few years.
While the artist retired back in 2023, he leaves us with an enormous legacy of iconic artwork that continues to inspire gamers and storytellers around the world to this very day.
The news is especially gloomy as it was only last year that Daniel Lowman and Napoleon Dynamite himself Jon Heder released The Grim & the Dark: The Search for John Blanche, a documentary following Heder’s exploration of the Grimdark genre culminating in a heartwarming encounter with Blanche in his own home.
Below is one of my favorite pieces by Blanche, his highly influential depiction of Warhammer 40k’s God-Emperor of Mankind on his Golden Throne.
We send our deepest condolences to John Blanche’s family, friends, and fans.
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