Editorials
The Biggest Horror Headlines of Gamescom 2014
If you’ve visited Bloody Disgusting with any sort of regularity this week, you’ve probably noticed how ridiculously good this year’s Gamescom has been for fans of the horror genre. It’s been a steady stream of reveals and re-reveals of multiple new horror games, as well as new details on the games we already knew about. Every flavor of horror was represented, from the post-apocalyptic to the supernatural, the nightmarish to teen slasher horror, and everything in-between.
With Gamescom’s biggest news expended, we’re left with our jaws on the floor, some new games to look forward to and a more positive outlook for the future of our favorite genre. Read on for a recap of one of the most exciting weeks the horror genre has seen in some time.
Silent Hills
The big reveal this year was obviously Silent Hills. It came out of nowhere and I feel like I haven’t stopped talking about it since. The game is being led by Metal Gear designer Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy, The Strain) and will star Norman Reedus, who many of us know as Daryl from The Walking Dead.
The game will be powered by Kojima’s FOX Engine — the same engine that powers Metal Gear Solid V — and is currently only confirmed for the PS4.
Release: TBA
Platforms: PS4 confirmed, others TBA
Until Dawn
The other major horror game to take up headlines is the teen slasher Until Dawn, which has been completely rebooted and reworked by developer Supermassive Games in the two years following its initial reveal. The last few years have treated it kindly, as the game looks significantly better, it has a more interesting story, some impressive voice talent behind it (including Hayden Panettiere), and an ambitious developer that really wants to scare us. It’s also now a PS4 exclusive.
Release: TBA 2015
Platforms: PS4
Dead Island 2
Until last week, we had only seen a CGI trailer for Dead Island 2, a sequel that’s now in the hands of Spec Ops: The Line developer Yager. Deep Silver fixed that with the reveal of actual in-game footage (above) that highlighted the myriad ways we can look forward to slaying the undead hordes when the game ships next year. They’re giving us dual-wielding. Finally.
Release: Spring 2015
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Dying Light
With Dead Island in the hands of a new developer, Techland is free to work on whatever they like, starting with the similarly themed open-world horror game Dying Light, which takes some of the best aspects of Dead Island and injects it with some freerunning and a tweaked multiplayer. There’s still weapon crafting, character progression, and four-player co-op, but now other players are able to join co-op games as a monster. And unlike Dead Island, this game changes into something substantially more terrifying when the sun goes down.
Release: February 2015
Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Overkill’s The Walking Dead
So far, if you’ve really wanted to play a Walking Dead game, your only real option is Telltale’s episodic series. Activision tried, and failed, to make a shooter out of it with the abysmal Survival Instinct, and now Payday 2 developer Overkill Software is looking to redeem the brand with their own take on the series. We don’t know much about it, other than it’s a co-op shooter that may be set in Washington D.C.. Robert Kirkman will be overseeing it, likely for quality control, so you can have confidence that this won’t be another sad cash grab like Survival Instinct was.
The Payday series is proof enough that Overkill is a supremely talented developer that’s more than capable of bringing us the Walking Dead game “fans have been waiting for.”
Release: TBA 2016
Platforms: TBA
Alien: Isolation
I’m already sold on the fact that Alien: Isolation is hands down the most genuine video game adaptation of a film franchise this industry has ever produced. Creative Assembly has shown a remarkable love for the films as well as an impressive eye for the little details that made the original Alien so memorable. The game’s latest trailer doesn’t show any gameplay, but it gets the message across: in Alien: Isolation, you will be hunted. Relentlessly.
You will also die. A lot.
Release: October 7, 2014
Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
The Evil Within
Releasing a week after Alien: Isolation is this year’s other major horror release, The Evil Within. From Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, this game marks his long-awaited return to survival horror. Gamescom gifted us with a bunch of Evil Within headlines, including the unveiling of a season pass that will unlock all three of the game’s planned single-player add-ons and the fact that even without the DLC, the game will have a meaty campaign that takes between 15-20 hours to finish.
Release: October 14, 2014
Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Bloodborne
I don’t mask my eagerness to get my hands on the PS4 exclusive Bloodborne very well. This is mostly because it just looks so insanely good, I don’t understand why the gamer collective doesn’t lose their minds when we’re gifted with gameplay footage like the video above. From Software carved out a sizable chunk of the fantasy RPG market with Dark Souls, and Bloodborne is their attempt to blend that winning formula with some even more horrific-looking enemies and environments. This game cannot come soon enough.
Release: TBA 2015
Platforms: PS4
The Order: 1886
The PS4 has a decent number of horror exclusives, and among them is Ready at Dawn’s The Order: 1886. The game is set in Victorian era London and follows a secret order of soldiers who have been outfitted with awesome steampunk weaponry which they use in their war with human “half-breeds”, or werewolves.
Release: February 2015
Platforms: PS4
DayZ
Dean Hall, the guy behind the original DayZ mod as well as its still in-development standalone dropped some news that I’m sure excited as many fans as it angered. PC will always be their priority, but the game will be soon coming to PS4 in a move that, according to Hall, will benefit both platforms.
Release: TBA
Platforms: PC, PS4
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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