Video Games
2D Gothic Fighter ‘The Black Heart’ Arrives on Steam October 22nd
Fighting games, let alone horror-based ones, are a rarity on PC. That’s not stopping publisher Saibot Studios and horror director Andrés Borghi with their upcoming game, The Black Heart. The 2D gothic fighter will arrive on Steam Early Access later this week on October 22nd, and as you would expect, the title brings buckets of blood with it.
Described as being “in the tradition of Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat“, The Black Heart takes place in a world apart from ours, ruined by war and hatred. The king and creator of that world have been killed by a monster called Final, the King’s heart torn from his body, where he kept all his power. Six creatures, both from our world and this other world chase the monster and fight each other to obtain the heart. The last one standing will gain the power of the heart and become invincible.
According to the Steam page, Borghi has been working on this game for about seven years, working on everything including the graphics, programming, story, music and sound. The game was in fact released as freeware, but Borghi decided to revamp the game, complete with new illustrations by cartoonist Nahuel SB.
Grimtaste Studios and DreadXP have announced that their horror visual novel RUNT will launch on August 6 for PC via Steam. The Steam Next Fest demo released in February is still available for those curious to check out the game ahead of launch. Accompanying the announcement is the customary release date trailer, which gives fans a close-up look at the eerie, slow-burn intensity that runs through the game’s mystery.
In RUNT, players step into the shoes of Runt Strayer, the 19-year-old youngest of five brothers, the last surviving sons of a dead cult leader who once called himself the Mouth of God. On the fifth anniversary of their father’s death, the brothers discover a horrific message written in blood across their boarded-up church pulpit: 5 Days. With the town of Skipclaw sealed behind protective walls and humanity no longer the apex predator, Runt must investigate the omen before the fifth day arrives, and choose who to accuse.
Skipclaw is a town in isolation. After a mysterious apocalyptic event cloaked the world in darkness, horrific creatures emerged and replaced humans as the dominant predators. To survive, the townspeople must stay in the light, cover their skin, and hide their faces behind masks. Inside the walls, safety is precarious, suspicion is constant, and the Strayer family, architects of the town’s defenses, sit at the center of it all. Dialogue choices build hidden stats that influence how characters respond to you and which clues reveal themselves. The kind of person you become will determine which truths you’re able to uncover, and which ones you’ll never know.
Sporting a branching narrative experience, you’ll gather clues by speaking to townspeople, interrogating your brothers, and navigating the politics of survival. The order of conversations, the questions asked, and the conclusions drawn will all shape the outcome at the end. Over five days, you will investigate every brother and their secrets, build or fracture relationships with masked townsfolk, survive in a world haunted by otherworldly creatures, and decide who is responsible. On the final day, after choosing a culprit, you’ll see one of the game’s dozen endings.