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‘Vampyr’ Devs talk Art and Mood in Latest Dev Diary
Picking up from last week, Dontnod Entertainment have released their second developer diary entitled “Architects of the Obscure”. While this entry continues the art vein of the previous, this time the devs focus on the artistic choices involved in bringing to life a vampire in war-torn streets of London in the midst of the Spanish Flu epidemic.
The episode goes into the four London districts that are in the game (Whitechapel, the East End docks, the Hospital, and the West End), and the choices made in each to convey the particular tones in gameplay. Also included is input from the game’s composer, Olivier Deriviere, whose industrial soundtrack is meant to invoke the lonliness that the game’s protagonist, Dr. Jonathan Reid, would feel inside a living city like London. Having the game take place at night also plays into this, as well.
The more I see of this game, and how much thought goes into the presentation, the more I can’t wait for this to finally drop. There’s still no firm 2018 release date, but as soon as it hits…
The best part about engaging with collaborative genre fiction on the internet is that anyone can get in on the action, with worldwide accessibility often resulting in absurd story beats that wouldn’t be possible if any single person was responsible for the entire narrative. And while Kane Parsons’ Backrooms film is definitely the young filmmaker’s own unique take on the infamous creepypasta, it’s fun to see other creators join the Backrooms sandbox now that the big screen adaptation is getting ready for a record-shattering opening weekend.
As if cleverly timed releases like Puppet Combo’s The Backrooms game weren’t enough (not to mention that Scary Movie poster poking fun at Parsons’ flick), McDonald’s official social media accounts have now released an analog horror video of their own celebrating the liminal terrors of the McRooms – complete with a familiar purple surprise at the end of the footage.
While it’s funny enough to see the world’s most recognizable Fast Food giant engage with internet-borne Found Footage thrills seemingly out of the blue, the video is actually referencing a long-running gag among the Backrooms fandom where creators jokingly talk about there being a fully functional McDonald’s restaurant hidden somewhere in level 0 of the infamous liminal labyrinth.
Now, would it be too much to hope for a moist-carpet-flavored McShake to tie in with the film?
Backrooms is now playing only in theaters from A24.
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