For those unaware, the recompilation/decompilation scene has been kicking around for a while now, and has recently seen a surge in popularity. Rather than remaking the entire game from scratch, fans have instead taken the original code and either converted it into a native platform code without reconstructing the manual source code (recompilation), or have broken down the compiled game files and turned them back into human-readable source code (decompilation). The result has seen classics like Silent Hill, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and more show up on PC, with a variety of modern enhancements/Quality of Life updates (you can see a bunch of them in Modern Vintage Gamer’s recent video).

Which brings us to P.T.. Spotted by GameRant, Lorean The Gamer  has reverse-engineered the PS4 executable and rebuilt P.T. in C++ and Vulkan, with the whole thing running on data files from the original demo. Much of what was in the original is here, but with the added bonus of having 60 FPS or higher, increased resolutions, support for mouse and keyboard input, modern controller support, and optional AMD FSR 3.1.

So what does Hideo Kojima think of this? Well, he’s reposted the original story from GameRant on X, so that tells you all you need to know.

The post A Fan Has Created a Decompilation of Kojima’s ‘P.T.’ Using The Original Game Files [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Not only will the game see a digital release on consoles, but Senscape has also announced that ASYLUM will see a physical release. That also includes a classic “big box” edition for the PC version. Details on these physical releases are still to come.

The spiritual successor to the 2006 cult classic Scratches, ASYLUM is crafted in the grindhouse style of 80s horror (including its soundtrack), drawing inspiration from H. P. Lovecraft’s stories, the iconic gothic style of Hammer Films, and the twisted horror legacy of Lucio Fulci. As the description states on the Steam page, the game is “the kind of slow-burning horror with an old-school sensibility that creeps upon you.”

ASYLUM casts players into the hallucinatory setting of the Hanwell Mental Institute. As an ex-patient suffering bizarre visions, you must explore the intricate layout of the building, research its past history, and march towards a shocking conclusion. The game aims for a gripping journey filled with mystery, puzzles, and an ambiance that will keep players on edge throughout its 15 hours of gameplay. ASYLUM aims to be a slow-burning horror experience, designed to chill rather than shock, with only a few “carefully placed” scares.

The post Lovecraftian Horror Adventure Game ‘ASYLUM’ Comes to Consoles on October 30 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Currently, details on the game are still to come. However, the story for BrokenLore: MIKI-CHAN centres on Kazuaki, a Japanese student determined to pass the entrance exam for Teidai and win over the girl he loves. When he happens upon a mysterious USB stick containing an innovative study support program, he decides to try it, convinced that it can help him. What the USB holds is Miki-chan, a sweet and reassuring virtual assistant. But eventually, something changes, jealousy and possessiveness take over, dragging Kazuaki into a virtual (but still very real) nightmare.

Kazuaki will face psychological challenges that push him to his limits in a world controlled by Miki-chan. However, he has the Rewriter at his disposal, a tool capable of altering reality to attempt to even the playing field and perhaps save him from Miki-chan.

The post ‘BrokenLore: MIKI-CHAN’ Traps You With a Jealous AI Assistant [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Teaming up with Trancas International Films, Inc., and MIRAMAX, players can expect new versions of The Shape, kicking off with the version of Michael from Halloween 5: The Return of Michael Myers and the version of Michael from Halloween 2018.

In addition, a new map will be added for all players who purchased the game, inspired by the settings of Halloween 5 – The Tower Farm Map – where worn country roads meet at the center of a small, quaint farming community just outside of Haddonfield.

A lit filling station anchors the new map, providing Civilians a reference point as they scramble across wide roads and through cornfields. While the map’s open nature helps with navigation, it also creates a no-man’s land where Civilians can become easy prey. Hide in roadside ditches to stay out of sight, then pray for the perfect moment for a harrowing sprint to safety.

Farmhouses replace suburban homes, shifting the feel and flow of 1v4 multiplayer matches. Farm equipment, hay bales, and overgrown brush turn every yard into a twisted playground for Michael Myers to attack. Barns, sheds, and houses give Civilians a chance to escape, catch their breath, and have a chance at evading the Boogeyman.

A harvest festival, trailer park, and pumpkin-filled gardens bring the new map to autumnal life, lit by the last light of a setting sun. A basement chase or a sprint through the pumpkin patch can go either way: seek new hiding spots and exits while Michael finds fresh ways to stalk his prey.

In addition to the new Tower Farm map and two Michael Myers skins, they will also be introducing two new Civilians, a very special Halloween costume pack, and more in the first of a series of post-launch content updates for Halloween: The Game that will be carried out across the first year.

“1978 was only the beginning,” said Jared Gerritzen, Chief Creative Officer, IllFonic. “With the Tower Farm map, we take the terror of that first event in Haddonfield into somewhere wide open, where there’s nowhere to hide except in the dark – where Michael Myers truly comes to life.”

Here’s the rundown for the October 27 DLC:

DLC: Michael Skins – $9.99 Each

• Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers – $9.99
• Halloween (2018) – $9.99

DLC: Civilian Characters Pack – $9.99 for Both

• Michelle (Female) and Eugene (Male)

DLC: Civilian Costumes Pack 1 – $9.99 for All

• Halloween Costumes
• 14 Outfits, 1 Per Character
• 42 Tints

Map # 5 – Free

• “The Tower Farm”

Features / Fixes / QoL – Free

As for future DLC, players can expect free and paid DLC this winter, next spring and summer.

Halloween: The Game is now available digitally on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.

The physical versions for PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series launch tomorrow on October 6.

The post First DLC for ‘Halloween: The Game’ Arrives October 27, Featuring a Free ‘Halloween 5’ Map appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In Signal Veil, players take on the role of Aki Mizuno, a teenage girl whose mother vanishes without a trace. Aki’s mother has left behind one final gift: an old cellphone that reacts to spirits no one else can see. Coincidentally, Aki’s high school has begun to experience series of disappearances, as well as the appearance of strange creatures born from emotional trauma and hidden memories. It’s up to Aki to investigate these disappearances, all the whiel uncovering the truth about herself within the school.

Taking a cue from Silent Hill‘s radio, Aki’s inherited cellphone vibrates, emits unusual sounds, and displays interference whenever spiritual presences or lingering memories are nearby. Not only does it serve as Aki’s primary tool for detecting enemies before they fully manifest, but is also used for identifying corrupted areas, and revealing clues and signals invisible to the naked eye.

Nishikawa High School is a place where every hallway hides a threat and every resource counts. Medicine, ammo and mystical weapons are scarce, so each fight against the school’s spirits demands strategy over brute force. Aki’s sanity adds another layer. As her mind slips, the world around her shifts, enemies grow more unpredictable and her own fighting becomes more desperate.

In addition to the expected fixed camera angles, inventory management and the limited tactical combat, the visuals of Signal Veil blend the tension of classic survival horror such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill with a 90s anime aesthetic inspired by psychological horror series like Another and Jujutsu Kaisen.

The post Third-Person Survival Horror Title ‘Signal Veil’ Announced for PC, Consoles [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Coinciding with the announcement is the METRO series celebrating a major milestone, having now surpassed 50 million sales worldwide.

“It has been an incredible journey over the last two decades, and we could not be more proud of what the team has achieved or more grateful to the players who have walked these tunnels with us,” said 4A Games Executive Producer Jon Bloch. “Our community has supported us from the very beginning; every milestone we reach belongs to them as much as to us. Returning to where it all began with the Next-Gen Update of METRO Redux – and bringing it to fans free of charge as we did with METRO Exodus – felt like the right way to continue to say thank you.”

On console, players will experience both titles at true 4K at 60FPS or upscaled 4K at 120FPS, with native support for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 5 Pro, and Xbox Series. Platform-specific features include PSSR support on PlayStation 5 Pro, TSR upscaling and anti-aliasing support on Xbox Series X, and Spatial Audio support on Xbox platforms. With Xbox Handheld and Xbox Play Anywhere support, your journey through the Metro can continue wherever you choose. The update also supports Adaptive Triggers for DualSense controllers and Impulse Triggers for Xbox controllers.

On PC, experience 4K resolution with uncapped frame rates, alongside DLSS and Spatial Audio support. Across all platforms, players will also benefit from a range of bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements. Full patch notes detailing all technical improvements and platform-specific features will be published alongside each platform launch.

Meanwhile, the next chapter in the series, METRO 2039, will launch on February 4 for the Xbox Series, PlayStation 5, Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The post Next-Gen Updates for ‘METRO 2033 Redux’ and ‘METRO Last Light Redux’ Release This Month appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

After the events of The 1st Floor, players take the elevator down into a destroyed underground facility that has been abandoned for over 40 years. The halls are filled with old Dark Pals equipment and remnants of “the raid”, slowly revealing what happened to the facility and the people inside it.

Further inside, players will encounter a mysterious member of D.A.R.K. From there, the story starts to reveal more about D.A.R.K., UpWard, and the reason the player has returned.

“With the popularity of The 1st Floor, over a billion views all over the internet in just two months, we saw a dream come true! We were overwhelmed with hilarious and positive comments,” says founder of Skunx Games, Winston van Graafeiland. “Then we started making The 2nd Floor, and somehow I think we managed to make it even more insane than the first game. We can’t wait to see what people think!”

In The 2nd Floor, players encounter new creatures in typical Dark Pals fashion, continue the journey with their companion Inky the squid plush gun, and have to survive the devourer to find a way towards the 3rd Floor.

Meanwhile, check out Harrison’s review of Dark Pals: The 1st Floor for a refresher while you wait.

The post ‘Dark Pals’ DLC “The 2nd Floor” Announced for 2027 Release [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Part mystery, part exploration-driven horror, and intentionally full of riddles rather than telling players where they should go next, Dreadline Express puts you aboard the last remnant of a now-collapsed civilisation – a steam train populated by a handful of ominous survivors.

Inside every carriage hides another piece of the puzzle. Each passenger has their own story, their own motives and, perhaps, something they would rather keep hidden, buried deep down in their psyche. Some doors upon this train, it appears, may be better left closed.

“Dreadline Express is about giving players the freedom to be curious,” explains developer David Konecny. “I wanted to make a horror game where making it through comes from paying attention, making connections, and understanding the people and places around you, rather than simply following a trail of objectives. It’s strange, unsettling, and sometimes deliberately obtuse, and I’m incredibly excited that people will finally be able to board the train on October 16th.”

At the centre of it all is the game’s card-based narrative system. Discoveries, encounters and achievements become cards stored within an evolving album, allowing players to uncover connections, formulate new plans and open paths that previously appeared impossible. The more you understand about the train, its passengers and the world outside, the more options you have for deciding what happens next.

The post Psychological Horror “Metroidbrainia” ‘Dreadline Express’ to Launch October 16 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Freddy’s skin (no pun intended) is available now in Fortnite, with more crossover collaborations to arrive as the month-long event goes on. He joins Five Nights at Freddy’s, Slender Man, Obsession, Predator: Badlands, Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, Beetlejuice, The Purge and more.

Drop into Freaky Fields or the new Nightmare Neighborhood POI, where Freddy is waiting. Defeat him to claim Freddy’s Nightmare, which let you teleport into range and slash opponents. Reveal enemies with the new Bonerattler SMG, and take aim with returning weapons like the Wood Stake Shotgun and Pumpkin Launcher.

Activate cursed cartridge Overrides that grant invisibility while sprinting, boost damage at low health, or conceal your squad as Halloween props. Take on Five Nights at Freddy’s animatronic bosses to possess one and terrorize the map.

The post Get a Good Look at Freddy Krueger in “Fortnitemares” with the New Trailer [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Inspired by SCP-3008 and The Backrooms, Storebound sees 1-3 players trapped in an endless store. By day, lights flicker across deserted halls, inviting exploration. By night, employees roam the aisles looking to “assist” you. Silence, teamwork, and quick thinking are your only tools for survival.

Across a 6-episode campaign lasting 5 to 7 hours, squads must explore different eras across the store’s sprawling departments, solve twisted logic puzzles, and evade horrific “employees” who stalk the aisles for shoppers needing “after-hours assistance.”

Plan your next move using proximity voice chat and walkie-talkies. Piece together environmental clues and decode cryptic notes to find your next destination. Split up and look for whatever may help you escape. Along the way, search the mall for tools and items. But be wary of the employees. Do you cling to the shadows, letting madness creep in, or stay in the light where they’re already watching you?

The post Co-Op Horror Game ‘Storebound’ Out Now in Full on PC, Consoles [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The collaboration brings new content designed to blend elements from both universes. This limited-time event introduces:

• Two new gameplay events, including a massive community challenge against Malebolgia and a Hellspawn-inspired dungeon encounter.
• Spawn-themed cosmetics and rewards that transform the look and feel of your hero.
• Necroplasm-fueled power fantasies, brutal enemies, and supernatural challenges pulled directly from Spawn’s universe.

Adventurers participating in the Hellspawn’s Vengeance event can complete weekly tasks and participate in additional activities to earn Vengeance Marks. As your progress builds, you’ll unlock a host of rewards, including a Spawn-inspired weapon appearance, exclusive collaboration emotes, a collaboration avatar frame, the Necroplasmic Totem Legendary Gem, Legendary Crests, as well as valuable Legendary and Set Items.

Also available is a special Spawn-themed Survivors Bane challenge. During the event, adventurers will wield Spawn-inspired powers drawn from the depths of Hell itself. Unleash vicious chains, command a living cloak, and harness necroplasmic energy to carve a path through endless demonic hordes.

As the trial unfolds, a descent into Hell awaits. Those who survive will be dragged into a fiery confrontation against a powerful foe before returning to the battlefield empowered by the spoils of victory.

You can find out more info on the crossover, including the rewards, by checking out the blog post.

Launched back in 2022, Diablo Immortal is available for iOS and Android devices, as well as Battle.net.

The post Todd McFarlane’s ‘Spawn’ Invades ‘Diablo Immortal’ In Month-Long Crossover Available Now [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Featuring members of the art team, this featurette explores the origins of body horror, and how the history of the genre influenced the team to create the abominations you’ll face in Valor Mortis. In addition to footage from the game, the featurette shows off several concept art pieces from the team, exploring “one of humanity’s oldest fears”.

Set in a supernatural reimagining of 19th-century Europe, Valor Mortis casts players as William, a resurrected soldier of the Grande Armée who wields both Napoleonic-era weaponry and devastating supernatural powers. Guided by Napoleon’s disembodied voice, you must traverse ravaged battlefields, sprawling mountains, and European-inspired cities consumed by a grotesque, continent-wide plague — the same corruption that pulses through William’s veins and gave him life.

You’ll be getting in on the body horror yourself when Valor Mortis launches on October 13 for PlayStation 5,the Xbox Series, and PC via Steam. Get a taste of what’s to come with the demo that’s currently available now on Steam.

The post New ‘Valor Mortis’ Featurette Delves Into Body Horror [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Players step into the role of Dr Alexander “Alexie” Kolchak, a Foundation researcher and one of the few survivors of Site-63. Trapped within the aftermath of the disaster, Alexie must investigate what happened, evade threats he cannot overpower, and begin a dangerous journey toward Site-19.

The SCP: Project Pneuma demo introduces the game’s combination of psychological horror, exploration, stealth, environmental puzzles, and narrative discovery. Every location holds evidence of the events that unfolded before containment failed. Journals, voice recordings, abandoned equipment, and environmental details reveal fragments of a larger mystery, but exploring those fragments carries its own risks. Resources are scarce, direct confrontation is rarely an option, and every anomaly follows its own rules. Survival depends on watching carefully, understanding the threat, and knowing when to hide or escape.

As Alexie moves deeper into the ruins, hallucinations begin to alter familiar surroundings and undermine his perception. Doors may lead somewhere unexpected. Environments may change without warning. Even apparent safety cannot be trusted.

The post Zatun Unveils Steam Demo for ‘SCP: Project Pneuma’ [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In this 2-4 player co-op game, you’ll manage and supervise the Good Mourning Funeral Home. Grieving families need your utmost attention. That means preparing the bodies for their final viewing, delivering passionate eulogies, and stealing a couple of limbs along the way for Grandma’s dinner.

Of course, you’ll need to replace body parts with similar-looking items in order to not raise suspicion from grieving families. A basketball makes for a perfect replacement for a head, for example. Just don’t forget the photo to tape to the ball.

Word about the funeral home is getting around, and more families are showing up every day. More bodies through the door means more money and better upgrades for the business, but it also means more funerals running at once, more chances to slip up, and a Grandma who’s only getting hungrier. When the day ends, everyone gathers in the basement for family dinner, and Grandma gets to eat what you’ve gathered for her. Fall short on her order, and someone else will end up on the menu.

Ahead of release, the devteam plans on holding a playtest for Grave Mistakes, which you can currently sign up for when the build is ready.

The post Run a Funeral Home with Friends While “Shopping” for Dinner in ‘Grave Mistakes’ [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“October has arrived, which means Halloween is right around the corner, and nobody loves this haunting holiday quite like the people of Haddonfield,” says the team’s post on X. “We have big plans to celebrate the season of scares with this community, and can’t wait to share more details about the costumes, content, and more headed to Halloween: The Game.”

And as mentioned, the physical release for Halloween: The Game will launch for the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series on October 6. Teaming up with Nighthawk Interactive, there will be two editions for the physical edition: the Standard Edition will be available for MSRP $39.99, while the Limited Collector’s Edition will be available for MSRP $149.99.

The Standard Edition of Halloween: The Game will include a copy of the game for PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, an exclusive poster, and advance access to the Michael Myers Clown skin and two civilian cosmetics.

Meanwhile, the Limited Collector’s Edition will include a copy of the game, plus an exclusive Trick or Treat Studios Shape Jump variant action figure, exclusive lenticular art, an exclusive poster, advance access to the Michael Myers Samhain and Clown skins, advance access to the two civilian cosmetics from the Standard edition and two additional civilian cosmetics, and more.

Halloween: The Game is now available digitally on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. Check out our review if you haven’t done so.

The post IllFonic Teases “Big Plans” for the Season for ‘Halloween: The Game’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Now through October 4th at 6:00 PM PDT, players can explore the factory’s decaying halls from a critter’s eye view as they begin to untangle the web of mystery surrounding their mission: scavenge resources, haul materials, and survive whatever lurks in the shadows as you work toward building…something.

Celebrating the Open Beta going live, Mob Entertainment has released a new teaser trailer for the game, this time calling back to the very first Smiling Critters introduction, and further hinting at what awaits players when they dive into this new adventure.

Played solo or with up to four players, each run in Escape From Playtime sends teams into a dynamically changing section of the facility to find and transport resources for a mysterious Voice. The materials are needed to help build a promised home for toys who prove their loyalty and usefulness. Simple enough, except the factory is filled with rejected Playtime Co. creations stalking the halls. Players must search quickly, choose when to split up or stick together, and know when to retreat.

Along the way, players can solve puzzles, uncover clues, scavenge tools, use hiding spots and alternate routes, and turn the factory layout to their advantage. Proximity voice chat adds another risk: communication is essential, but an irresponsible whisper can bring the mission to a brutal end.

As you complete runs, Escape From Playtime reveals a deeper connection to the larger Poppy Playtime story. The Voice promises freedom and a home, but its motives remain unclear. Every resource gathered feeds into something bigger. You are helping build something, but what, and why?

Players can join the Open Beta now at FirstLook.gg.

The post Open Beta Kicks Off Today for ‘Escape From Playtime’ [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

That includes a new “Blighted” look for Jason Voorhees, Art the Clown, and the return of the annual Haunted by Daylight event.

One of Dead by Daylight’s most beloved spooky season traditions oozes once more as the Hallowed Blight Collection returns October 1, bringing its signature stomach-churning mix of pustules, mutations, and orange serum to three new Killers. 

Earlier this year, the iconic hockey-masked killer first joined the Fog, delighting fans in record-slashing numbers. Now, Jason Voorhees gets his first taste of Blight, twisting the already imposing Killer into something truly grotesque. He’ll be joined by equally unsettling new Blighted outfits for The Houndmaster and The Knight.

Dead by Daylight’s Halloween staple event, Haunted by Daylight, returns October 13 and runs for three weeks. 

This year’s event embraces a more traditional Halloween aesthetic, bathing The Entity’s Realm in an orange haze filled with pumpkins, Rifts, and more, a similar treatment. Some of the bigger changes for this iteration include the Void Realm itself now being closed, despite its signature Rifts remaining. Void Rifts, once opened, become Void Portals and can be used to teleport around the Map, creating new opportunities for escapes, ambushes, and general surprises. 

Plenty of goodies are also available, with earnable Tricks and Treats Collection outfits for Shane Wiigwaas and The Hillbilly, Survivor Shirts for Sable Adam and Jeff, and new Killer Masks for The Singularity, The Unknown, and The Trapper, all up for grabs. 

Arriving on October 20, the Diablo Collection brings the world of Blizzard’s legendary series to Dead by Daylight with six new outfits inspired by iconic characters and classes from across the franchise. 

At the heavily horned head of the pack is Lilith, the Daughter of Hatred herself, brought to horrifying life as a Visceral outfit for The Artist. Featuring unique menu animations and vicious new Mori, Lilith has been carefully crafted for The Fog, maintaining her unmistakable silhouette while welcoming a few devilish details for the eagle-eyed Diablo faithful. Also making the leap between realms, Belial, The Lord of Lies, arrives in Dead by Daylight as an outfit for The Dredge, turning its nightmarish form into a six-faced demon of deception. Mephisto, The Lord of Hatred,  rounds out the trio of Killer Cosmetics as an outfit for The Nurse, pairing his imposing design with The Nurse’s supernatural elegance. 

All three outfits are Visceral or Ascended, and pull out all the stops with unique voice lines performed by the characters’ original Diablo voice actors, Caroline Faber, Ray Porter, and Steve Blum. 

Survivors will have plenty to enjoy as well, with outfits inspired by Diablo IV’s playable classes. Zarina Kassir harnesses the arcane as the Sorceress, David King prepares for battle as the Barbarian, and Taurie Cain appropriately communes with the dead Necromancer.

Perhaps most of all, play as Terrifier‘s Art the Clown starting October 27, and look for a sombrero sporting Dia de los Muertos edition of Ghost Face on October 30.

To chase away the Halloween blues, Dead by Daylight is also unleashing the Lights Out: Stranger Things Collection that will bring Netflix characters Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington, and Vecna into the Fog on November 5.

The post Everything Coming to ‘Dead by Daylight’ This Halloween: Art the Clown, Blighted Jason Voorhees, ‘Stranger Things’ and More appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“With this rework of the track, it frames my song in a darker, more twisted world. ‘Fuck the Pain Away’ is ever-expanding and now has new meaning in the Hellraiser universe. I’m in!” said Peaches in a press release.

Molitz added, “I’ve always admired Peaches for her fiercely unapologetic, provocative approach to personal expression. Blurring the lines between pleasure and pain, this track is a raw, abrasive, three-act descent into a hellscape of transcendence, excess, compulsion and distortion. It was an honor to collaborate with Peaches and rework this iconic track, and we’re thrilled to finally unleash this beast on the world!”

Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival will launch on October 8 for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series, and the Nintendo Switch 2. And don’t forget to check out the demo that’s available now on Steam.

The post Peaches Reworks “Fuck the Pain Away” for ‘Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival’ [Video] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

There have been five mainline chapters, an asymmetrical spin-off — in the form of PROJECT: PLAYTIME — not to mention collaborations with Gen Alpha institutions like Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft (practically giving all parties involved a license to print Croesian sums of money). Of course, there’s nowhere the series’ cultural dominance is more clearly evidenced than IRL, where enshrinement of its mascot character Huggy Wuggy is seemingly a mandatory requirement for all carnival game booths, random knick-knack stores, and arcade claw machines.

The point is, Poppy Playtime lost any claim to underdog status a while back. The same cannot be said, however, for its development team at Mob Entertainment, who, with neither the headcount nor the resources of a AAA studio, have managed to produce episodic outings in the series on a near-annual basis. You gotta respect the hustle!

For 2026’s installment, they’re taking a break from the usual solo experience to dabble once again in the realm of online multiplayer. Only this time it’s not asymmetrical, but rather a strictly co-operative affair.

Trading Solo Horror for Co-Op Extraction

Indeed, the new Escape From Playtime wisely avoids going down the stale Dead by Daylight route and instead hews closer to the likes of Lethal Company and this year’s The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu. Just like those games, it’s a first-person extraction title that has you braving hostile territory, salvaging loot, and then trying to haul ass back to your home base (with cargo in tow), all at the behest of a cruel taskmaster who cares not a jot if you live or die.

As per genre tradition, successfully evading the clutches of death and meeting your quota here only results in you getting sent back out into the fray. Now with an even more demanding target to hit and even more workplace hazards to overcome. Talk about performance punishment!

So, the fundamental rules, progression, and structure of matches are fairly boilerplate for this sort of thing. Where Escape From Playtime hopes to distinguish itself, though, is in how it combines those familiar basics with elements of the mascot horror subgenre, as well as the deceptively cutesy aesthetic that has made its own franchise such a hit.

The end result is doubtlessly an enticing proposition for die-hard PP fans. Yet, if our recent hands-on preview is anything to judge by, it’s going to be a tougher sell for those who aren’t already deeply invested in the lore of Playtime Co.

Toy (Horror) Story

Set during the intervening period between “The Hour of Joy” (an uprising that saw sentient toys turning against their makers) and the events of Poppy Playtime: A Tight Squeeze, the game casts you in the role of a so-called “Smiling Critter”. For the uninitiated, these are basically candy-coloured animal plushies that boast soulless black eyes, vacant grins, and zip-sealed mouths. Think Beanie Babies, only marginally less creepy!

At this point in the series continuity, the little imps have been left to fend for themselves within the derelict Playtime Co. manufacturing plant and are struggling to find common purpose in a post-rebellion world. That is, until they hear a disembodied voice transmitted over the loudspeakers, promising salvation if they can band together and collect enough materials to facilitate some unknown construction project.

This enigmatic rallying cry provides the narrative set-up for your matches, or “Shifts” as they’re called in Escape From Playtime. Essentially, you’ve got to wade out onto the factory floor, alongside up to three other critters, and secure your contributions for the great stockpile. The dungeons you explore are, to a certain extent, procedurally generated here, meaning that you’ll have to coordinate with teammates to cover as much ground as possible, locate prospective donations, solve light puzzles, and evade patrolling toys from other unfriendly tribes. All before a debilitating red gas seeps in and cuts your expedition short.

It’s a solid premise, and the developers do get a lot of comedic mileage from juxtaposing the reassuring, childlike imagery of the toy factory with the darker implications of what’s happening on its floor. For instance, if one of your fellow plushies is killed in action — let’s say it’s the adorable unicorn one — then you’re able to consume their flesh (or would it be felt?) to temporarily sustain your own existence.

Then there’s the selection of goofy items at your disposal, such as the acrobatic-augmenting bunny ears, the legally distinct NERF gun, and the concussive air horn that can be used to grief teammates (hilarious, so long as you’re the one wielding it). We were also charmed by the silly Doppler effect, which causes the voices of allies to modulate in pitch as they fall to their death or sprint by in a mad panic, as well as how the developers give you leeway to just bounce endlessly on springy trampolines when in safe zones, for no other reason than sheer dumb fun.

These are all nice little touches that give Escape From Playtime some arch, mischievous personality. Alas, they are only little touches.

Killing the Buzz with Sparse Encounters

For all of its whimsical cannibalism, quirkiness and frenetic energy, the rest of the experience is rather inert. In fairness, the game is only launching in early access later this month and isn’t being touted by Mob Entertainment as a finished product. Still, it’s hard to imagine it catching on with anyone other than the staunchest of Playtime loyalists, or those simply looking for new friend slop.

The few matches we played during our hands-on session were oddly lacking in incident. For the most part, we just blundered around a series of indistinguishable, dimly lit corridors and barren rooms often unaccosted by enemies as we searched for anything of value to collect or even just something engaging to do.

Once we managed to scrape together a paltry haul, we then had to suffer the tedium of retracing our steps all the way back to the beginning of the dungeon. Even with glowsticks serving as droppable waypoints, this return journey was often quite frustrating, given that we’d ascended multiple floors, gone through ventilation shafts, scaled walls, and generally got ourselves all turned around in the hunt for elusive resources.

On that note, traversal is cool in theory here, as the critters can do quasi-parkour and climb virtually any surface (à la Link in Breath of the Wild). Yet in practice, it’s often disorienting, thanks to the ludicrous movement speed and the way that your avatar’s limbs constantly get in the way of your vision. We can foresee people who like this kind of ADHD, twitchy gameplay happily mastering the mechanics. But for those mere mortals amongst us who can only perceive the world in real time, such hyper-kinetic motion — combined with an iffy first-person view — could prove to be a little nauseating.

Conversely, the monsters you encounter are borderline stationary half the time. It can take a while for any of them to show up but, once they do, they feel less like autonomous threats to be outsmarted and more like dormant traps to be sidestepped. There’s the Boogie Bot: a proximity mine on wheels that looks like the result of some unholy union between WALL-E and Astro Bot; the Cat-Bee: a poisonous stinger that idly floats around with all the indifference of a jellyfish being carried along by the ocean current; and Bunzo Bunny: a leporine spin on the old cymbal-clashing monkey toy that roots itself to the ceiling in a way that recalls the barnacles from Half-Life. As enemies go, they’re a weirdly passive bunch.

The only one who injects any urgency into rounds is Miss Delight. A doll with a cracked face that actively pursues you around the map and can detect sounds over the proximity chat, she’s a proper stalker with menace. Her appearances add some much-needed tension to Escape From Playtime and, once she’s on the prowl, there’s a chance for suspenseful scenarios to finally develop. She’s got this whole Weeping Angel gimmick — rendering her unable to move whenever you’ve got a beam of light fixed on her location — and that alone produced some nerve-wracking moments whenever we’d anxiously check on the dwindling battery life of our torch.

Puzzle-Focused Shifts Point to a Stronger Future

Another thing that helped to liven up our preview was a later-stage puzzle gauntlet that imposed a welcome structure on gameplay and had us feeling like we were doing more than just rooting around through trash cans like some kind of starving raccoon.

When in one of these special matches, you essentially go from zone to zone solving quick escape-room challenges, like playing the right arrangement on a walking piano, shooting hoops in an employee gym, or activating kindergarten blocks in the correct sequence, until you reach a conclusive endpoint. We were informed by Mob Entertainment that the shifts will periodically take on this more linear format and, honestly, it works a lot better than traipsing around the more open-ended dungeons.

Unlike the normal shifts, they incentivize communication with your team, have you interacting organically with one another, and can feel suitably panicky if you’re trying to complete tasks while Miss Delight breathes down your neck.

Suffice it to say, the gauntlet left us on a high and had us wondering if maybe Escape From Playtime is just a late bloomer. Perhaps it’s only after you’re a few shifts deep that things really get good, because that’s how it felt as our one-hour session drew to a close.

The addition of puzzle rushes, the inclusion of a roaming stalker, and the general ramping up of intensity certainly got us more engaged, anyway, and we hope that stuff becomes more prominent as the game develops in its beta form. Otherwise, it’s only going to appeal to those who are looking for new morsels of Playtime lore and who want to experience the world they already know from a fresh (in this case, diminutive) perspective.

Then again, given the franchise’s entrenched fanbase and enormous success, maybe that audience is the only one Mob Entertainment needs to worry about.

Escape From Playtime will launch into Steam Early Access on 21 October. 

The post ‘Escape From Playtime’ Preview: ‘Poppy Playtime’ Universe Goes Co-Op With Mixed Results Ahead Of Early Access appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Low and Alone, reunited once again, have travelled through the mirror to reach The Shores. They must find their way to the lighthouse beacon, but to do so they will have to face new threats, including flooded streets, leeches under the command of The Leech Monster, treacherous waterways, and submerged passages filled with hazards, puzzles, filthy sewers, and much more.

Iincluded in the Deluxe Edition for Little Nightmares III as well as the Secret of The Spiral Expansion Pass, you can also purchase The Shores separately.

Little Nightmares III is currently available for PC via Steam, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

The post Second DLC for ‘Little Nightmares III’ in “The Shores” is Available Now on PC, Consoles [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

When is Freddy Krueger entering Fortnite? October 2!

Drop into Freaky Fields or the new Nightmare Neighborhood POI, where Freddy is waiting. Defeat him to claim Freddy’s Nightmare, which let you teleport into range and slash opponents. Reveal enemies with the new Bonerattler SMG, and take aim with returning weapons like the Wood Stake Shotgun and Pumpkin Launcher.

Activate cursed cartridge Overrides that grant invisibility while sprinting, boost damage at low health, or conceal your squad as Halloween props. Take on Five Nights at Freddy’s animatronic bosses to possess one and terrorize the map.

The Horde Rush LTM is back, and on October 8 an updated Nitemare Island arrives in Reload alongside the Stranger Things and Squid Grounds maps.

Outfits from Five Nights at Freddy’s show battle damage and are live in the Shop now. Throughout October, fans will get the opportunity to snag outfits based on A Nightmare on Elm Street, Black Clover, Hollow Knight, 99 Nights in the Forest, Hazbin Hotel, The Purge, Obsession, Slender Man, Beetlejuice, Predator: Badlands, and Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights!

Here’s the content roadmap for October…

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In the trailer, Alexander walks through the violent combat of Valor Mortis, from its stamina management and light and heavy attacks to parrying and counterattacks. The trailer also touches on weapon variety, including the Claymore, a slow, two-handed blade with very high impact, and the Musket, a two-handed firearm with more range and power than William’s pistol.

The trailer also shows Transmutations, which William wields in his left hand to buff himself, debuff enemies, deal damage, and traverse the environment. These include Fire, which can set enemies burning; Shield, which absorbs damage and then releases a shockwave; and Grapple, which lets William traverse the environment using grapple points. Players can fight however they like.

Catalysts, the game’s upgrade currency, are spent at Lanterns to improve stats such as health, stamina, and parry, and are dropped where William falls when he dies. Ambers, found throughout the game and equipped at Lanterns as William levels up, enhance and personalize his build to suit each player’s playstyle. Together, these systems capture the essence of soulslike games, blended with Valor Mortis‘ high-flying first-person combat.

Valor Mortis launches October 13 on PlayStation 5,the Xbox Series, and PC via Steam. A demo is also available now on Steam.

The post Explore The Combat of ‘Valor Mortis’ in New Gameplay Overview Trailer [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In fact, it seems like every few years we hear about an amazing del Toro project that never made it past pre-production, with the latest of these being his long-rumored involvement with an unmade BioShock film – involvement which the filmmaker has finally confirmed.

In a recent interview with IGN, del Toro was asked if he’s interested in adapting video games to the big screen. The director responded that he’d already tried, and then revealed that one of those games was 2K Games’ 2007 opus BioShock.

According to del Toro: “We had a very contentious call about a couple of games. I find that the dynamics of a video game are very different than a movie. They may be cinematically similar in terms of the camera moving, and this and that, but the storytelling is very different, because you’re not solving puzzles. You’re not assembling.“

The filmmaker then went on to clarify his position on any future attempts at game adaptations: “So adapting it, BioShock, we had a couple of calls. They are probably one of the most disastrous calls I’ve ever had. So no, f**k no.”

While we’ll likely never know exactly what made the BioShock negotiations so bad that they turned del Toro off from video game adaptations for good, the filmmaker’s relationship with the industry had already been soured after his ambitious plans for Insane (a planned trilogy of cinematic survival horror titles) fell through all the way back in 2012.

That’s not even mentioning the canceling of PT/Silent Hills, which del Toro was set to collaborate on alongside gaming auteur Hideo Kojima, in 2015. 

Guillermo del Toro’s dark fantasy masterpiece, Pan’s Labyrinth, re-releases in theaters on October 9 for its 20th anniversary.

The post Guillermo Del Toro Confirms He Gave Up On Video Game Adaptations After “Disastrous” Attempt At ‘BioShock’ Movie appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

You wake up strapped to a chair. Across from you is Abel Marsh: patient, methodical, and convinced that he has every right to decide your fate. He asks what you did. Who you hurt. What you have been keeping to yourself. You write the replies in your own words.

Plead with him. Make up a story. Refuse to cooperate. Ask a question he would rather avoid. The challenge is to understand your kidnapper while deciding how much of your own story to give him. Getting him to talk could matter just as much as knowing what to say.

Abel’s replies are powered by a custom-built conversation engine that responds to what players type. Built around a proprietary AI model developed specifically for the game, the system runs entirely on the player’s own computer. Your words and his responses stay on your machine, keeping every conversation completely private.

Kidnapped Simulator is currently being developed with eight endings shaped by the encounter with Abel. The game’s grainy textures, shadows, and deliberately confined perspective draw on the look of early 3D horror, keeping the player close to every pause, gesture, and change in Abel’s expression.

The post Your Captor Is Waiting for Your Answer in ‘Kidnapped Simulator’ [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The game will launch at $6.99, with a 10% launch discount. Through launch week and Steam Scream Fest (which takes place from October 26 to November 2), Good Children Say Grace will also be available in a Steam bundle with BrokenLore: DON’T WATCH from Tokyo-based Serafini Productions.

Set on a remote Eastern European island, the game follows Martin’s mental breakdown as he is grieving the disappearance of his girlfriend. His parents were scammed into adopting a girl his age who burned down her house. And now, everything looks like eggs…

Good Children Say Grace is heavily inspired by manga storytelling, with a visual style drawn from Inio Asano‘s Oyasumi Punpun. Play one day in the life of Martin and Amelia. Dialogue decisions and where you walk determine which version of the day you’re living. Small moments cascade into one of the game’s multiple endings.

The post Absurdist Psychological Horror Game ‘Good Children Say Grace’ Releases October 16 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

I assumed the game would involve some light puzzle solving as I moved between set pieces with horrific creatures in a strange but beautiful world. What I got instead was a challenging cross between Dead Space, Super Metroid, and Resident Evil, with a unique vibe that immediately set it apart. While there are many stylistic choices that resemble Tarsier Studio’s work on Little Nightmares, this was its own beast, and all the better for it.

End of Abyss casts you as Cel, a technician who is part of a team exploring a strange underground compound in the aftermath of an unspecified incident. You’re escorted in by a team of soldiers, but after a brief introduction, you’re largely tasked with exploring the facility on your own, fending off the warped creatures that roam its halls. For most of the game, there isn’t much more to the premise than that.

There may be things you glean from the environments or notes around the level, but the few cutscenes in the game never really fully explain what’s going on. The setup feels like just enough to send you on your journey through this harsh and compelling world, though I was hoping for a little more narrative punch to pay off all the intrigue.

An Oppressive Sci-Fi World Built on Atmosphere

What it lacks in narrative, it makes up for in pure vibes, which is something that often works best for games of this type. From the first screen, the washed out blue color palette immediately sets a bleak and eerie tone, matched by the minimal but atmospheric soundtrack that accompanies the action. The preset camera angle captures things from an isometric perspective that shifts in and out when needed, giving the devs another tool in their toolbox for setting mood. Each room feels like a little diorama, showing off a decaying and broken down facility with weird biomass growing on the walls like something out of Annihilation.

It’s clear that it takes inspiration from retrofuturistic settings like Alien, but there’s enough to the design of the technology that makes it feel like its own thing. I particularly loved the suits that the soldiers wear as they tower over Cel with weirdly geometric helmets that hide their humanity.

The strong mood is key to making the environment enticing, which is important for a game so based on exploration. The first areas feel compact and dense, tightly designed with shortcuts like Resident Evil’s Spencer Mansion, but after the second boss the game opens up dramatically, revealing a more open and sprawling game than I anticipated. Like a Metroid game, you’ll gain access to tools or abilities that will allow you to open up previously unavailable areas, building a great network of paths to cross the facility’s various sectors. After a more linear beginning, I was really surprised at how little the game held your hand, asking you to truly explore the area to find the way to your goal.

Exploration Rewards Curiosity—and Patience

For the most part, it’s incredibly successful. Save points, which bring you back to full health and restore your healing items, are scattered around at just the right distance from each other, making it feel like a well-earned relief when you stumble upon one for the first time. Each sector has a map terminal hidden within, and finding that always feels like a huge victory. Opening up your in-game map and trying to see which areas you haven’t checked out yet, then puzzling out your route to get there is one of my all-time favorite things to do in a video game, and End of Abyss captured this feeling perfectly.

To make it feel even more active, you have a scanner tool that can be used to analyze objects in the environment. This will often be the best way to figure out what’s blocking you from getting through a door, whether it’s a specific key or it’s locked from the other side. Information about doors isn’t added to your map until you do the scan, making it part of the satisfying core loop of completing your map of the world. While some people may want a smoother experience that automates this process, the friction of having to do it myself was what made it more captivating, making me feel like I’m exploring and charting this world on my own.

As with many games of this type, this open structure can lead to frustration. There were points later in the game where I swore I had explored every single option on the map, but still had areas that remained inaccessible to me. It was a laborious process to retrace all my steps, room by room, trying to figure out what I had missed. In this specific instance, I had simply not noticed a switch to extend a bridge in an area that I had passed through many times. Due to the lighting and perspective, it was hard for me to see, only spotting it when I was randomly swinging around the scanner to look for something hidden.

You’re definitely intended to feel some friction as you’re exploring, as getting lost definitely feels like the experience the developers intended, but it’s a tricky tightrope to walk to make sure that’s balanced. It feels so rewarding when you take another look at the map and realize that you finally have the right item for an area, though frustration can definitely start to build if you’re not able to spot it. I definitely have more patience for this type of game, as exploration is one of the most rewarding parts of gaming to me, but if that’s something that can grind your enjoyment to a halt, go in knowing that End of Abyss may frustrate you in certain areas. It’s challenging to explore, but that challenge comes with satisfaction when you finally find your way.

Strong Creature Design, Uneven Enemy Balance

While exploring the many sectors of the game, you’ll be fighting the mutated creatures that roam the facility. Combat takes the form of twin stick shooting, with the right stick used to aim your various weapons. The starter pistol has unlimited ammo and will be your primary weapon throughout the game, but you’ll pick up other firearms that pack a bit more of a punch. The alternate weapons have a much more limited ammo supply, so choosing when to use your precious shotgun shells is key to survival. You’ll also find other items that either have exploration utility, like flares or placed explosives, or combat uses, like grenades. A well-timed grenade definitely turned the tide of battle a few times, which meant I was sure to keep myself well stocked.

Defeating enemies will yield a currency called Fragments, which can be used in save rooms to either craft ammo and consumables or upgrade your weapons. Grenades and ammo won’t be frequently found while exploring, so crafting them is the only way you can keep yourself armed for more dangerous encounters. Weapon upgrades, which require more limited resources in addition to Fragments, help your guns pack more punch, sometimes adding new fire modes or modifications in addition to a general stat bump. Most of my upgrade materials went into my pistol, since it was the most used gun by far, which often made me less likely to try to find use cases for other weapons, but they still made their way into my rotation when things got hairy.

Enemy design is strong throughout, if a little derivative. Most of them fall into the category of shambling humanoid, often given body horror flair by The Thing or Resident Evil-style mutations. While they might not be the most unique designs, they are well-rendered in the game’s gorgeous art style, brought to life by expressive animations that make them feel strange, inhuman, and dangerous.

Boss Battles Shine Despite an Inconsistent Difficulty Curve

I appreciate the way they break up exploration, but the fact that they respawn any time you stop and save can slowly turn them from menacing to tedious over the course of the game. By the tenth time you’re crossing the same area, they no longer feel like a threat, just something you need to navigate around. This is compounded by the fact that they are a bit more tanky than they should be, meaning you sometimes have to put a couple full clips of your pistol into a standard monster to take them down.

Robotic enemies in particular were guilty of this, which was exacerbated by the fact that they were the most common enemy in many of the game’s locked room encounters that required you to kill waves of enemies to progress. The tanky enemies do make the weapon upgrades feel more meaningful, but I feel like I would have enjoyed combat more if they had fewer hit points and more variety in attack behaviors.

Boss encounters featured not only the most grotesque creature designs but also the most interesting mechanically, but the difficulty curve of them didn’t feel quite right. The second boss of the game, a massive centipede made of bodies, ended up being the most challenging to me, taking way more tries than even the game’s final boss. There were late game bosses that I was beating in one try that felt way easier than the first few, so it feels like there could have been another pass done at slowly ramping up the boss difficulty in a smoother manner.

A Rewarding Horror Adventure for Players Who Love Exploration

Another big surprise with the game was the large amount of optional content. There is a weapon you get late in the game that allows you to progress into new areas you couldn’t, and exploring these areas will lead to collectibles that will get you the game’s alternate ending. I was a little disappointed with the vagueness of the standard narrative conclusion, so having both more sectors and narrative to explore after finishing is an enticing prospect, even if I didn’t have time to get to it in the review period.

For all the praise I’ve had for the general structure and gameplay, almost every aspect was, at one point or another, marred by technical issues. I had several instances where the map wasn’t updating properly, causing me to backtrack to areas that were marked as locked but I had already opened. One room I entered was completely black and did not properly show the room until I blindly walked into the exact right spot. I got soft locked when locked doors wouldn’t open after defeating the waves of enemies, and I had several hard crashes.

When trying to beat the final boss, it would occasionally not spawn after the intro cutscene, forcing me to turn the game off and on before it would load properly. One of the most frustrating bugs involved a fan that was supposed to be blocking me from climbing a ladder, but the fan wasn’t animating, so I was just hitting an invisible wall with no indication of what was stopping me. There were multiple patches during the review period, so hopefully things will be ironed out soon after release, but technical issues definitely got in the way of my enjoyment of the game several times throughout the 12 hours I spent with it.

End of Abyss is an uncompromised take on the Metroidvania genre that will probably frustrate many players, but if you get joy out of slowly filling out a map and puzzling out your next place to explore, you’ll feel right at home in its bleak and eerie world. While the combat could use a bit of a balance pass, both in its boss progression and enemy health, Section 9 clearly achieved what they were setting out to do.

The mood created through traversing its derelict world helped make up for the lack of concrete narrative, telling its tale through immaculately eerie vibes and atmosphere. My hope is that the bugs that hampered much of my playtime will get ironed out in the near future, because End of Abyss’ brand of demanding exploration was incredibly rewarding.

Review code provided by publisher. End of Abyss will launch October 1 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series and PC via the Epic Games Store.

The post ‘End of Abyss’ Review: Atmospheric Sci-Fi Horror Metroidvania Rewards Patient Exploration appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In a press release, Stormind Games CEO and co-founder Antonio Cannata stated that the community has played a fundamental role in the history of Remothered. “Those who purchased and supported the first two games directly contributed to the growth of the series. We therefore want to give them access to the Remastered editions at no additional cost. The free upgrade is meant as a concrete thank you for the support we’ve received over time.”

Both remasters have been upgraded to Unreal Engine 5, featuring upgraded lighting, character models and assets, redesigned UI and more.

In Remothered: Tormented Fathers, Rosemary Reed is a sharp and determined 35-year-old woman who arrives at the isolated home of Richard Felton under false pretenses. She is there to uncover the truth about Celeste, a young girl who simply vanished. The nurse Gloria watches over the aging, ailing Felton. But the moment Dr. Felton realizes why Rosemary is really there, the hunt begins. What follows is a web of obsession, buried secrets, and psychological horror where the line between victim and monster is never where you expect it.

In the second entry, Remothered: Broken Porcelain Remastered, the truths buried in the Ashmann Inn will not be discovered easily: its many mysteries are intertwined and guarded by the looming threat of the stalkers, powerful hunters trapped in time and the confines of its walls. Survival will take more than just quick reactions as a strategic and resourceful approach will quickly become critical in this haunting adventure. Be smart, as knowing the best time to sneak, flee or fight imminent dangers can quickly make the hunters become the hunted.

The third entry in the series, Remothered: Red Nun’s Legacy, will launch on October 27 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam, the Epic Games Store and GOG.

The post Remasters of First Two ‘Remothered’ Entries Arriving Q1 2027 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“Since [the 2024 The Last of Us Part II documentary Grounded II], we’ve talked about the possibility of telling more stories in the world of The Last of Us,” says Druckmann. “We have a couple of very exciting new projects in very early stages – so we can’t say much about them at this point. I will tell you that both projects will expand the canon of The Last of Us beyond Part I and Part II.”

“The world of The Last of Us means a great deal to us, and we wouldn’t return to it unless we had something meaningful to say. We believe these stories are worth telling.”

This is somewhat in contrast to what Druckmann said last year when asked about a third entry in the series. Druckman at the time stated that his concept for the proposed third game would be “as exciting as I, as exciting as II, is its own thing, yet has this through-line for all three.” However, Druckmann also said that the two entries would be the only ones in the series. “I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of ‘Last of Us.’ This could be it.”

This news also comes after Druckmann announced last July that he would be stepping away from the third (and final) season of the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us, which is currently slated for release next year, and will focus on Abby (played by Kaitlyn Dever).

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Those players who played through the May demo will find plenty has changed in Pantheon. The former three-stage structure has been streamlined into a single, more immersive session, with clear, approachable missions replacing complex puzzles. Each run now features randomized terrain and in-game element spawn locations, while fallen players can return as “MiRO” to assist teammates and be revived through interaction. S.O.M.A. also now begins offline, awakening only when it detects nearby noise or movement, keeping players on their toes with an unpredictable threat.

CODE EXIT puts players in the role of investigators sent into Pantheon, which has been overrun by the rogue AI known as Minerva, an integrated artificial intelligence that has turned the city into a locked-down machine nightmare. As players explore dark, isolated facilities, they’ll have to contend with Minerva roaming the city, observing their behavior in real time, and adapting its tactics. Restore systems, recover hidden data, and work together to uncover the truth behind the collapse of Pantheon before Minerva closes in.

Look for the full version of CODE EXIT on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store in 2027.

The post Playtest Is Now Live for Sci-Fi Co-Op Survival Horror Game ‘CODE EXIT’ [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Those who pre-order God of War Laufey before launch, you will receive:

• Last Wish Armor Set (which unlocks in game via story progression)
• Phranque Golden Leaves Appearance (cosmetic)
• In-game resource pack

As for the Digital Deluxe Edition, in addition to receiving the pre-order bonuses, you will also get the following:

• Dark Alchemy Armor Set*
• Dark Alchemy Blade*
• Dark Alchemy Bow Scales*
• Dark Alchemy Catalyst*
• In-Game Resource Pack
• Digital Mini Artbook
• Official God of War Laufey Digital Soundtrack

As detailed on PlayStation Blog, combat with the Serpent Bow centers on two modes: Precision and Hip-Fire. With Precision Mode, by fully pressing down the aim trigger, Faye will have more precise aim and increased draw distance. By striking at certain points on an enemy’s body, Faye can impair their movement or ability to strike, giving her the perfect opening to follow-up with a melee hit.

While in this aim mode, Faye can charge up the bow and stack up to five arrows for a powerful volley.

Meanwhile, Hip-Fire Mode has you half pressing of the aim trigger, where Faye will enter a more mobile hip-fire stance. In this aim mode, she can unleash a cluster of arrows for devastating damage to enemies at close range. This allows Faye to juggle airborne enemies and extend combos as she seamlessly swaps between weapons and abilities.

Alongside the two fire modes, Faye can utilize a variety of arrow types that deepen your preferred playstyle. Rapid fire, explosive detonations, multi-target – Faye’s bow is a versatile weapon that can create and capitalize on openings.

The Serpent Bow can also be equipped with different types of Scales that will change both the look of the weapon, as well as the type of playstyle it specializes in via a unique perk (such as the Dark Alchemy Bow Scales from the Digital Deluxe Edition). In addition to the equipped Scales, the Serpent Bow also has unlockable skills which allow Faye to expand its capabilities even further.

In addition to Scales, Faye’s armor options will allow you to choose between a range of gameplay perks, stats, and unique looks. You can also customize her other gear to further enhance different playstyles:

• Blade – Customizable element of Faye’s sword
• Scales – Customizable element of Faye’s Serpent Bow
• Catalyst – Powerful artifacts capable of channeling the potent magic of the Everywhen, Faye will be able to choose from a variety of Catalysts with different effects

God of War Laufey launches February 16.

The post Pre-Orders Now Live for ‘God of War Laufey’; New Combat Details Revealed appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

After revealing a crossover with The Purge yesterday with a teaser image, along with Freddy Krueger and Slender Man, the new trailer once again teases those crossovers, along with the previously-revealed Five Nights at Freddy’s.

This time around, we also get teases for Obsession (via the One Wish Willow) being part of this year’s event, alongside Beetlejuice and Japanese manga Black Clover.

In addition, Fortnite leaker HYPEX revealed that all of the previously-released Resident Evil skins will be making a comeback for this year’s event.

The whole event kicks off on October 1. Stay tuned for more.

The post New ‘Fortnitemares’ Cinematic Trailer Teases ‘Obsession’ and Fully Reveals Freddy Krueger! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Set in the small mountain town of Sweet Elm, the game takes place inside the Alex Dieter Public Library and Center for Reflection, named for the billionaire who has transformed the town into a curated hub of technological innovation and small-town comfort.

He also happens to have been killing unhoused people and stuffing them in the walls of the library. And as a result, the library is extremely haunted.

With the help of the library’s former administrator, Phillip Shed, players must clean and organize the library over the course of one tense night, shelving hundreds of real books while unraveling a story of complicity, supernatural violence, and what it takes to bring a haunted place peace.

“If you’ve ever been in a library at night, you’ll know that it feels unexpectedly warm and full of possibility–until you hear a single sound you don’t recognize, and realize you’re surrounded by towering shadows.” says studio head Xalavier Nelson Jr. “As a former librarian, I truly hope that, despite the objectively messed up things they’re going to witness, everyone who plays the game falls in love with their local library a little more.”

Featuring a fully-voiced story with an entire library of eerie manifestations to unlock, Something is Wrong With the Library features an authentic modern library filled with thousands of real book titles. You’ll be organizing fallen and missing books by Dewey Decimal System classification, author, and title. For more variety, the game features what’s referred to as a Modular Chaos System, where every playthrough gives you a different set of books to shelve.

The post Sort Books Amidst Blood and Meat in ‘Something is Wrong With the Library’ [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Created by Lambert Jackson Productions, with creative direction by Thomas Redgrave, video design by Symfoni Digital, the series will feature all-new arrangements and orchestrations by Adam Hoskins.

Here are the dates for the series:

• 13 March: Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, Tokyo
• 14 March: Eventim Apollo, London
• 26 March: Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles

Tickets for LA go on sale October 1st at 10am PT, while tickets for London go on sale October 1st at 12pm BST. Lottery-based pre-sale for tickets for Tokyo starts on October 1st at 12pm JST, with general sales planned for a later date.

For ticketing and further information, you can visit castlevanialive.com.

The post Details Revealed for ‘Castlevania’ 40th Anniversary Orchestral Concert Series appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The EP includes music featured in the highly anticipated third expansion for The Witcher 3, which was originally previewed at CD Projekt Red’s 2026 Gamescom showcase last month.

“Creating music for Songs of the Past was incredibly exciting for me, but I also felt a huge sense of responsibility,” explains Magda Urbańska. “I vividly remember the first time I heard the music from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — it shook me to the core. That music was extraordinary then, and it remains extraordinary to this day.”

“I’ve worked with classical music for most of my life, but folk requires a completely different sensibility — it has its own tone and form, while also offering enormous creative freedom. But our roots, our Slavic heritage, are something more than that — something that runs deep within us, something that grows out of who we are. I hope we’ve managed to preserve The Witcher DNA in these pieces.”

Here’s the tracklisting for the EP:

1. Return to the Path – Magda Urbańska
2. Awoken – Magda Urbańska
3. Into Darkness – Daniel Elms
4. What’s Done – Marcin Przybyłowicz
5. Belleteyn Night – Magda Urbańska

Meanwhile, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered launches September 29 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG).

The post Soundtrack EP for ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past’ DLC Now Available appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The Temple is a short, atmospheric first-person horror game set in the far future that sees players explore an abandoned colony on an aquatic planet aboard three separate vehicles, each with their own mechanics and environments. Players will also explore on foot, solve puzzles, and read logs in an effort to figure out what happened to the colonists.

You’ll dive deep beneath the sea with the submarine, fly high with the airship, and glide even higher with the space shuttle. You’ll need to take care, as ancient entities are lurking across the mod’s three chapters.

Klems states that The Temple is complete, with “only a few tweaks” needed before release. You’ll be able to get your hands on the mod as soon as next month.

The post ‘Half-Life 2’ Standalone Mod ‘The Temple’ Combines ‘Iron Lung’ With Lovecraft [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

After the confirmation yesterday regarding Five Nights at Freddy’s joining this year’s festivities, the official Fortnite account confirmed some of the rumoured crossovers for Fortnitemares 2026 in a new image posted to their official X account.

The new image reveals that in addition to Five Nights at Freddy’s, we’re also treated to a crossover with The Purge, Slender Man, and Freddy Krueger!

Given what the teaser trailer showed (or didn’t), along with the datamining efforts by fans, Epic still has a few surprises left for fans ahead of Fortnitemares kicking off on October 1.

Rumoured crossovers include the Roblox game 99 Nights in the Forest, Curry Barker‘s Obsession, tinybuild’s Hello Neighbor, Predator, Beetlejuice, and The Exorcist. Once again, none of these have been confirmed yet, though dataminers have found evidence pointing to these collaborations. We’ll just have to see if Epic decides to let more info slip ahead of Thursday.

The post Freddy Krueger, Slender Man and ‘The Purge’ Confirmed for ‘Fortnitemares’ 2026 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The demo has two parts: a story-focused section and a gameplay-focused section that unlocks after you complete the first section. WDR is encouraging those players who do check out the demo to leave feedback in the game’s Discord server.

Something’s stirring on the forgotten sidelines of Route 66. Broken down, you stumble into Dalton’s Dinos, a roadside dinosaur attraction that’s strangely quiet for the time of day. With no one around and something seemingly moving among the exhibits, a desperate call for help sends you searching…

But the colorful mascots and uncanny animatronics are only the beginning. Your search leads into sprawling underground caverns, where the dinosaurs are no longer part of the show and you’re the next meal. Run, jump, slide, climb and wall run through the darkness, using fast-paced movement and your surroundings to stay alive and uncover just how deep the mystery of Dalton’s Dinos goes. Can you find the attraction’s missing owner and his son?

Stay quiet, or risk the wrath of the park’s not quite shut down inhabitants…

Terrible Lizards arrives on October 29 for the Xbox Series and PC via Steam.

The post Get a Taste of Parkour Dino Survival Horror Action with the ‘Terrible Lizards’ Demo on Steam appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In the game, players take on the unusual role of a haunted house. As the master of this cursed domain, your goal is to ensnare daring humans, play on their fears, and drain their very essence to expand your dark influence.

By day, you’ll meticulously design the mansion’s labyrinthine layout, transforming it into a death trap that no human can escape. As night falls, lure unwitting explorers into your home, where you’ll use a deck of terrifying cards to summon spirits, shift hallways, and unleash horrors upon your guests. Build tension and drive these unfortunate souls toward madness, all while protecting your Heart room, which is the core of your power.

Once their sanity crumbles, you’ll harvest their essence to strengthen your mansion, increasing your infamy and attracting even more daring foes, from law enforcement to priests. However, you’ll need to beware, as the Stone Masons are coming, ready to challenge your reign of terror.

Strategically design your haunted house by placing rooms that serve to protect your Heart room, where your power is concentrated. Construct a maze filled with traps, scares, and unique twists, all tailored to frighten and confuse your visitors.

You’ll unlock and collect new cards as you progress. Expand your deck to include tools of terror like bone-chilling screams, phantoms, creaking floors, and shifting walls. Use your cards to scare or kill your victims, then extract their essence. Use their essence to unlock new rooms, expand your haunting powers, and attract more dangerous, and rewarding, targets.

The post Roguelike Haunted House Game ‘Deck of Haunts’ Coming to Consoles on October 8 [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The game will be available free of charge during its limited distribution period, which will end on October 24. After that, players who downloaded the game during this free period will be able to download it again and play it.

“The original Castlevania marks its 40th anniversary. To mark this special occasion and share the celebration with all who have supported the series throughout the years, we are releasing the original Castlevania as a free app for a limited time. We hope you will take this opportunity to revisit the story that started it all.”

Other games in the franchise that are available digitally on Steam, PlayStation and Xbox are getting massive discounts until October 1.

And for fans who love the series’ music (and really, who doesn’t?), those who didn’t grab the massive 46-LP set Music from Castlevania – Black & Red from the Materia Collective that was is still available for pre-order, not to worry. You’ll be pleased to know that the set, which spans the entire series from 1986 to 2010, is now available on streaming platforms.

Still with the music, Konami also announced that it will be putting on a trio of orchestral concerts in early 2027 to celebrate the franchise. The ‘Castlevania 40th Anniversary: An Orchestral Concert’ will be held in Tokyo, London and Los Angeles. Details for the concerts will be available soon.

If all that’s not enough, some fans who watched the anniversary video have noticed something peculiar. Castlevania fan JupiterClimb mentioned on X that at around a minute into the video, a series of portraits can be seen leading to Dracula’s throne room. Alongside the art for Belmont’s Curse, there’s art for Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence, and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

While Konami hasn’t said anything yet, some fans have taken this to mean that Konami is planning to release a 3D collection of Castlevania titles, similar to how they’ve previously released the Anniversary Collection, Advance Collection and Dominus Collection. This of course begs the question that if this is true, would we see the Nintendo 64 Castlevania titles in this collection? Again, this is all pure speculation at this point, but fingers crossed!

The post Konami Kicks Off 40 Years ‘Castlevania’ With Discounts, Music and a Potential New Collection? appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Watch the reveal trailer below.

Epic Games previews the upcoming collaboration, “The Fazbear Band has taken over Battle Royale. Face the animatronic animal bosses and survive the night… if you can.”

It’s almost showtime… Fortnitemares begins October 1, 2026.

Stay tuned for more Fortnitemares 2026 reveals in the coming days.

The post ‘Fortnitemares’ – ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Coming to ‘Fortnite’ This October [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Speaking of enduring, several elements of the series have stuck around and endeared themselves to fans, practically necessitating that Konami (or whomever is developing) to hit on said points when it comes to new titles. The upcoming Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse certainly continues that trend. The result has made the series one of Konami’s most successful and well-known franchises.

But just what are these elements, you ask? Well, let’s talk about ‘em. Now obviously, there are a lot of entries in the series, and this article would be the length of a deli truck if it went into exhaustive detail. So we’ll try to be a little selective this time around.

Gameplay That Rewards Patience and Precision

From the very start, Castlevania grabbed players’ attention with its sidescrolling action. For one, we were gifted the unusual weapon of the Vampire Killer whip, which set the game apart from other early Nintendo titles, which sported guns, fireballs, and hand-to-hand combat. That made Castlevania stand out from the crowd back in 1986. Making things even more interesting was that the whip could be upgraded, increasing its length and damage. Speaking of damage, your attack wasn’t immediate. You had a wind-up animation to take into consideration when attacking, meaning you had to time your whip hits with enemy movement and projectiles in order to land a hit, but also counterattack (since you could snuff out enemy projectiles).

You can’t forget the subweapons mechanic, either. They have their own quirks that would have you learning how to use them properly. Mastering the arc of the axe, throwing out the boomerang to be able to hit foes in front of you and behind you, and so on. Of course, there’s also the business of saving your hearts in order to be able to use the subweapons at the appropriate time, not to mention taking care not to accidentally pick up another subweapon to replace the one you already have. Again, timing and patience when attacking are paramount. As is finding the shot multipliers, since being restricted to one subweapon being thrown at a time can hamper your abilities as well.

Then there’s Simon’s movement, which at first glance is rather stiff in the early games. Jumping was also something you needed to consider, since you couldn’t adjust your arc in the air once you committed. Couple that with timing your whip to hit candles and airborne enemies, and it took practice and skill. Mistakes resulted in the infamous knockback when hit, which could lead you to being hit right into pits. The result was a risk-and-reward system that can frustrate, but taking the time to master it would result in something so satisfying to play.

Later on, subsequent entries attempted to make your movement a little less restrictive, while adding in new strategies. Super Castlevania IV allowed you to whip in eight directions, while Bloodlines had you swinging as Morris or vaulting with Lecarde’s spear, for example.

Once the series switched to 3D and Metroidvania styles of gameplay, you still had aspects of the early titles and their gameplay carrying forward, albeit with some tweaks. While you didn’t always have a whip, you still had to time your shots with the weapon you were holding to make sure you again weren’t knocked about by foes. And again, later installments did do away with the subweapon limitations, but you still had to conserve subweapon energy for when you really needed it.

Subsequent entries in the series added new mechanics such as magic attacks and the like that made subweapons take a back seat, or freed up your movement, but aspects of those early titles still stuck around, providing a bit of method to the early madness.

Gothic Graphics That Stand the Test of Time

Castlevania has almost always pushed the graphical capabilities on any platform its games have appeared on. Once again, outside of Nintendo, third-party developers struggled with mastering the NES hardware early on. Konami was able to cram quite a bit of detail into the very first game, and only added to that with the sequels.

Once the Super Nintendo rolled around, Konami pulled out all the stops with Super Castlevania IV. The rotating room and rotating cylindrical passage in Stage IV immediately come to mind for many fans, but even in the first stage, there are little details as you make your way through the castle gate. The courtyard fence rising up from the ground with the vines that intertwine them, the horses in the background as you venture through the stable, and so on.

As impressive as the graphics in Super Castlevania IV were, Konami tried to outdo them with Rondo of Blood. True, there were certain things that were missing (the increased color palette and the Mode 7 graphics, obviously), but once again, it’s all in the details. Enemies such as the Golem and Maneating Plant were larger than any enemy players had seen before up to this point, and there were little things such as the moths in The Chapel that would follow you if you snuffed out the light, for example.

And as fans know, many of the enemies in Rondo of Blood looked so good that they were reused and refined in Symphony of the Night, where we saw even larger foes and even more eye candy that to this day still holds up when compared to many 3D games of the era. That also includes, ahem, Castlevania 64 and Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness.

The 3D graphics did improve when things came to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, which saw Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness giving fans a much better-looking experience.

Iconic Music That Defined the Series

Anyone who grew up as a gamer in the ’80s and ’90s knew that Konami gave us some of the greatest video game music ever. Really, it’s kind of the law that you need to mention the music when talking about Castlevania. From the very beginning, the series had some amazing soundtracks that, much like many other aspects of the games, continued to improve as the series went on. There’s a very good reason why video game musicians continue to cover the songs from the series, but also why Konami released several albums featuring reinterpretations of the series’ songs.

Kinuyo Yamashita and Satoe Terashima kicked things off with the first Castlevania, which, again, in comparison to other titles at the time, was an outlier due to many of the scores at the time sounding downright primitive. The duo’s compositions did what all great soundtracks do in enhancing the mood and complementing the action, but this time around, they felt far more cinematic, as if you were watching an epic adventure. Apart from the opening “Prologue” (which in itself gets you energized while teasing the horrors you’ll face), the very first music you hear in the game is the iconic “Vampire Killer“, which has long remained a staple of the series, going through multiple interpretations.

Things pick up with the sequel, which longtime fans know was originally released on the Famicom Disk System in Japan, and made use of that add-on’s extra chip for its music. Obviously, the NES lacked this chip, so when Simon’s Quest hit North America, Konami had reworked the soundtrack, which for many fans, was for the better. The game kicks off with “Message of Darkness” again teasing your treacherous journey, before we get “The Silence of the Daylight” as you start in town. Once night falls, players are treated to another long-standing series staple in “Bloody Tears“, which, like “Vampire Killer“, has gone through several versions over the series’ length, and has appeared in almost every subsequent entry.

Even on hardware that was inferior to the NES, Konami was able to churn out fantastic results. The Castlevania Adventure and its sequel, Belmont’s Revenge, brought us even more iconic tracks such as “Ripe Seeds” and “Theme from ‘The Legend of Dracula‘“.

Once the SNES rolled around, composers Masanori Adachi and Taro Kudo took full advantage with Super Castlevania IV’s soundtrack, employing the various samples available to them to create sounds of organs, various woodwind instruments, and drums. This resulted in more classic tracks, notably “Theme of Simon“, the track for the very first stage of the game, and again, one that would be revisited several times over the course of the series.

How Castlevania Reinvented Itself Without Losing Its Soul

While the series’ gameplay changes can be argued to have split the fanbase at certain points, the switch in genres definitely divides certain Castlevania fans. The series has dabbled in several genres over the years (and continues to do so), but the ones the majority of fans know the series by are the OG sidescrolling and Metroidvania. Regardless of which camp you choose, there’s no denying that these games set a benchmark that influenced subsequent entries in the series, but also influenced other franchises.

Going once again way back to the early NES days, you really didn’t have much in the way of variation. Remember, this is before titles like Mega Man and Konami’s own Contra hit the scene, so you had titles just going from left to right, with no real deviation. Metroid shook things up the same year Castlevania was released, but that was Nintendo’s baby, and no other third-party developer could pull off something like that.

Konami changed all that. Not only were you able to scroll from left to right and back, but also up and down. All with the original hardware. Later sequels on the NES would have additional chips, but as mentioned previously, those were for the already-awesome music.

Of course, by dabbling in the RPG genre with Castlevania II, Konami unknowingly set up the series‘ later move into the Metroidvania subgenre. However, the following 8-bit and 16-bit entries still stuck with the same sidescrolling formula, adding the expected graphical and sound upgrades along the way. And while Castlevania III did away with the RPG elements, we did get branching paths to add even more variety. This was revisited and expanded upon in Rondo of Blood, where you could find detours mid-level to take you on the alternate routes.

Once the PlayStation rolled around, people started looking at 2D-based games as yesterday’s news, and games themselves were starting to expand beyond the typical “one sitting” effort when it came to their length. Konami sought to reinvent the series for the times, taking a cue from Nintendo’s Super Metroid and unleashing Symphony of the Night, an action/roleplaying hybrid that emphasized exploration and non-linear progression.

Players would come across locked doors and initially inaccessible areas throughout Dracula’s castle, requiring them to backtrack to find the correct item in order to open the doors, or reach the new area with a new ability. The success wasn’t immediate (that old 2D being “outdated” view), but eventually SOTN gave the series a second life for a new generation.

Eventually, Castlevania did dabble in 3D, but the initial offerings were mediocre on the Nintendo 64, and the later PS2 and Xbox entries never could quite get the hang of things. Meanwhile, the Metroidvania entries on the Game Boy Advance continued to be excellent, and continued onward through Nintendo’s subsequent handhelds.

Apart from these two, the Castlevania series has dabbled in other genres, to varying degrees of success. Aside from the mobile and Pachinko titles, Castlevania also entered the fighting game arena on the Wii in 2008’s Castlevania: Judgement. While ambitious, the game obviously wasn’t what fans were hoping for. The same can be said of Harmony of Despair, which adopted a team-focused platform-adventure style that, while unique, again strayed from what made the original games fun.

Crossovers That Kept Dracula Alive

A surprising one, for sure, but it’s also a bit painful. Relegating the Castlevania property to glorified crossovers? Isn’t that what they do for TV and film when creativity is in the toilet? True, but when you think about it, all of this effort was the right thing. Not only did it keep the series in the minds of longtime fans, but it also exposed the series to a whole new generation of gamers. Plus, when you think about it, that decision led to the return of the series proper.

You’ve got to start somewhere, and for Castlevania, that was Blue Mammoth Games’ platform fighter Brawlhalla, which had Simon Belmont and Alucard on its roster of fighters. Simon stuck with platform fighting alongside Richter Belmont in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, before Simon jumped over to Stunlock Studio’s action role-playing survival game V Rising with its Castlevania DLC. The series scored a big win with Dead by Daylight and its Castlevania chapter, again exposing new fans to the series.

Hitching a ride on Poncle’s popular roguelike Vampire Survivors, it was almost a no-brainer to have Castlevania join in on the addictive fun, even if the horror aspect was lost. Still, it continued the goal of exposure for Konami. But the most notable collaboration came with Motion Twin and their roguelike-Metroidvania Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania. That, of course, obviously led to the current title, Belmont’s Curse, which is being developed by Motion Twin and Evil Empire.

Despite not maintaining its peak since the late ’90s, the Castlevania franchise has still stuck around in the minds of fans. And that’s also in spite of the gap between releases that has only now been addressed. Compared to other video game franchises that have been around this long, it’s impressive how those early titles still resonate with fans, thanks in part to what we’ve covered. Regardless of whether or not Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse kicks off an earnest focus on the series from a game standpoint, the fact that the series’ legacy is still whipping up attention after 40 years is something to celebrate in earnest.

The post The ‘Castlevania’ Legacy Still Endures As The Series Turns 40 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

While filmmaker Zach Cregger made it quite clear that he wasn’t going to include iconic stalkers like Mr. X and other exaggerated monsters in his 2026 film adaptation, that didn’t stop him from paying homage to this terrifying tradition by coming up with his own take on a relentless pursuer enemy.

Referred to as “The Human Tumbleweed” by Cregger (though other crewmembers also called the creature “The Merged Monster”), this rat king-like amalgam of zombified corpses ended up becoming one of the most memorable parts of the movie as it hunted down Austin Abrams’ Bryan like an ironic reminder of the character’s fear of committing to a family unit.

However, horror fans might not be aware that this pulsating mass of body horror was originally brought to life by a professional group of dancers before being enhanced with CGI imagery courtesy of New Zealand’s Wētā FX.

In behind-the-scenes footage shared by stunt coordinator Jakub Hudlický and the Czech studio Movement Productions, we can see the talented group of performers rehearsing a chase scene while strapped together via a harness, with their uncanny movements feeling incredibly unsettling even without the addition of zombified makeup.

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These very same dancers also appear in the film as some of the nurse/doctor zombies that inhabit Raccoon City General Hospital, though The Human Tumbleweed was obviously their greatest challenge.

Naturally, much of this performance didn’t actually make it onto the big screen due to both safety and practical concerns, but hats off to Cregger for attempting to insert old-school effects even in the most outlandish elements of his video game adaptation.

If you’d like to check out this monster in motion, keep in mind that Resident Evil is now playing in theaters everywhere!

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The post ‘Resident Evil’ Used Real Dancers to Create the Human Tumbleweed Monster appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The 1998 SiN pushed traditional shooter formulas further, introducing systemic features rare for its time, including area-specific hit detection, reactive enemy responses and interactive level elements ranging from functional computers to pilotable aircraft. SiN: Reloaded maintains the full scope of these mechanics, bringing the game’s reactive combat and adaptable mission structure to current platforms without compromising its core design.

“SiN has always been one of those games that deserved another chance,” said Stephen Kick, Studio Head at Nightdive Studios. “It was ambitious, interactive, funny, and willing to experiment with ideas that were years ahead of their time. There’s an incredible amount of personality in this game, and that’s something we never wanted to lose. With SiN: Reloaded, our goal was to preserve everything that made the original special while finally giving it the presentation and performance it deserves. More than anything, I’m excited that a new generation of players will finally get to discover why so many of us fell in love with SiN in the first place.”

Enter a near-future dystopian world as security consultant Colonel John R. Blade as you take on the seductively evil Doctor Elexis Sinclaire. When Elexis, the CEO of SinTEK Industries, begins injecting the streets with a DNA-altering drug, it’s time to reassess the laws of morality. As Blade, you’ve made a religion out of fighting crime. Now you’re going to make Elexis pay for her sins by taking on her unholy army of genetically-engineered mutants.

The post Nightdive Studios’ Long-Awaited ‘SiN: Reloaded’ Now Available On Consoles and PC [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Updates for the full launch include the much-requested Sandbox mode, new human enclosures, new maps and special Martian characters, a huge variety of new music tracks and sound effects, and significant overhauls to Martian guest and captive human AI to improve balance and deepen the simulation mechanics.

Fans of the game will also have a chance to pick up the Supporter’s Edition, which includes an hour-long behind the scenes featurette, the game’s 21 track soundtrack by composer Haakon Davidsen, and a 56-page artbook packed full of never-before seen concept art, illustrations and character design.

Mars Attracts is a theme park management sim where you play as the aliens from Mars Attacks. Players will build rides, hire and train staff, manage guest needs, and most importantly – abduct humans from across history to serve as the star attractions. The game combines the rich systems and in-depth management simulations familiar to fans of games like Roller Coaster Tycoon with the retro futuristic, B-movie inspired style and darkly mischievous humor of the classic IP.

The post Theme Park Management Sim ‘Mars Attracts’ Exits Early Access, Launches in Full on Steam [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

As mentioned before, noted Fortnite leaker HYPEX posted earlier this week about some of the all-but-confirmed crossovers, as well as some rumoured crossovers. The one that most likely will happen is with Five Nights at Freddy’s, thanks in part again to datamining, as well as FNAF creator Scott Cawthon coincidentally getting in on the fun.

Those who have itchy fingers will have no doubt paused and gone frame by frame with this new teaser to determine any clues as to what other collabs Fortnitemares has in store this year. Indeed, there’s “blink and you’ll miss it” teases for things such as Beetlejuice, The Exorcist, Predator, Slender Man and Obsession. Again, nothing is confirmed yet.

One crossover that has been confirmed is with Section 9 Interactive’s upcoming End of Abyss, which will have a skin launching on October 1. Another crossover revealed last night (again, thanks to datamining and HYPEX) is with Control Resonant and a Dylan Faden skin. No word on when that will be available.

We’ll have to see what Epic has in store next week.

The post ‘Fortnitemares’ Live-Action Teaser Trailer Emphasizes The Terror [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The developers have announced in an official statement this afternoon, “Our ambition from the beginning of development was to deliver a SAW videogame worthy of its legacy, and for fans who have followed this franchise for decades. In fact, our ambition is for SAW: Genesis to become part of that legacy. This is why we take the quality of this game very seriously, and why we want to give it the time it needs.”

“Today we’ve made the decision to move the SAW: Genesis Early Access release to Q1 2027,” the statement continues. “We know how much this franchise means to its fans, and we want to deliver a game that not only lives up to the SAW name, but also a great multiplayer horror game in its own right.

“In recent months, we have gathered a great deal of feedback, and we’ve had the opportunity to test the game under a variety of conditions. We received a lot of positive and enthusiastic comments, as well as specific notes that would help improve elements of the game and their performance.

“Your enthusiasm and input have been invaluable, and we’re incredibly grateful to have you with us on this journey. We know the wait will be longer than expected, but we believe SAW: Genesis will be better for it. Thank you for your patience and trust.”

Set in the grim aftermath of World War I, SAW: Genesis allows you to play on either side of a 3v1 confrontation in intense matches that take place on procedurally generated maps.

Step into the role of the Judge, an early architect of Jigsaw’s philosophy, manipulating the trial and its prisoners from behind the scenes. Or play as one of three Accused looking to escape the deadly labyrinth through teamwork and sacrifice. Shaped by their experiences in The Great War, the Judge is dedicated to rehabilitating humanity through pain and sacrifice.

Customize your approach with perks and traps, then seek to control the match from the shadows. Unlike other asymmetrical multiplayer games, the Judge is physically vulnerable and cannot overpower the Accused through sheer force alone.

Your goal is to rehabilitate the Accused. Live or die. They make their choice.

Stay tuned for more updates on SAW: Genesis.

The post ‘SAW: Genesis’ Early Access Release Moved to Early 2027 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Players take on the role of Dylan Faden as he battles a paranatural crisis engulfing a reality-warped Manhattan, unleashing his powers and mastering the different forms of his shapeshifting melee weapon, the Aberrant, to face dangerous enemies and monumental bosses.

“Control Resonant is the result of nearly seven years of true team effort and collaboration that pushes our paranatural action RPG series into an expansive, reality-warping playground of choice, power, and consequence,” said Mikael Kasurinen, Creative Director of Control Resonant. “For our new players, you don’t have to know the first game to jump into this sequel. We’ve made this easy to pick up and hard to put down. For our returning fans, we’ve pushed the scale beyond anything we’ve done before, elevating combat, exploration, and storytelling into a bigger, more memorable experience. It’s ambitious, a little wild, thought-provoking and was never easy to create, but easy was never the goal! Now that Control Resonant is here, we can’t wait for our players, both old and new, to get lost in it.”

And for those interested in extra goodies, Remedy is teaming up with iam8bit for a new merchandise collection. Inspired by the game, the collection includes Corrupted Metro apparel, a Billboard Bumper Stickers Pack, an Atlantis Café Espresso Cup Set, three Federal Bureau of Control propaganda posters, and an FBC Magnet Set. The posters are 1:1 recreations of their in-game counterparts, printed on 16.5″ x 23.3″ poster stock.

The full iam8bit x Control Resonant collection is available for pre-order now through October 26, with shipping expected in Q1 2027. Hit up iam8bit.com to explore the collection.

And if you need further convincing to grab the game, check out Aaron’s review.

The post ‘Control Resonant’ Out Today; New iam8bit Merchandise Collection up for Pre-Order [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Townfall centers on Simon Ordell, who is called back to the island of St. Amelia in Scotland to ‘put things right’. What he encounters is a town lying quiet beneath a heavy fog, seemingly abandoned but not at rest. All he has on him besides his clothes are an IV bag and a medical wristband with his name on it. He heads to the town with no leads but the voices from the CRTV he picked up along the way. Venturing deeper and driven to understand his connection to the place and its inhabitants, Simon begins to discover fragments of a past rising to the surface.

Played entirely in first person, Townfall has players exploring, evading, and ultimately trying to survive using a limited set of weapons and tools, including the CRTV, a pocket television used to tune into unstable signals. Evasion is tense; combat is frenetic, while narrative driven puzzles reveal a truth that refuses to stay submerged.

And if you haven’t already, check out Harrison’s review of the game, which continues the scares you expect while offering up a few new tricks.

The post ‘Silent Hill: Townfall’ Available Now on PC, PlayStation [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In addition, Section 9 is teaming up with Epic Games for an all-new End of Abyss cosmetic in Fortnite to celebrate the upcoming launch of the former. And coincidentally, the cosmetic is hitting the same time as the upcoming annual Fortnitemares event.

In the depths of a mysterious underground compound, a mission to investigate disturbances of unknown origin has descended into a harrowing descent through a broken and abandoned world. Players take on the role of a young combat technician, Cel, as she uncovers the truth behind the facility’s derelict areas and confronts the monstrous creatures that roam them.

Players descend into the halls of a sprawling complex, where broken machines whisper to you from the depths, and nothing you encounter is fully human. Outmatched by the twisted horrors you face, you must upgrade your gear and adapt, pushing your limits just to stay alive against the crushing pressure of the facility you’re trapped within.

Navigate branching paths and uncover hidden areas using your Scanner and the tools you unlock along the way. Pathways open as you grow stronger, allowing you to return to forgotten corridors and secrets once sealed away.

End of Abyss will launch October 1 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series and PC via the Epic Games Store.

The post Third Behind-The-Scenes Video for ‘End of Abyss’ Explores Its Sound Design [Watch] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In Heartworm, players are invited to step into a world where memories and mourning blur the lines between reality and supernatural visions. Follow Sam, a young woman overcome with grief after the passing of her beloved grandfather as her quest for closure leads her into a deep rabbit hole of online forums – and ultimately to a remote haunted house up in the mountains.

What begins as a desperate attempt to reconnect with the past quickly spirals into something more sinister and inexplicable, as she pushes deeper into the unknown armed with only a camera and her determination to venture further.

Blending the spirit of the survival horror classics like Resident Evil and Silent Hill with modern gameplay options, Heartworm tells a deeply personal story through pre-rendered and in-game cutscenes, classic and mind-bending puzzle-solving and limited but meaningful tense combat using a camera as your weapon to fend off what lies ahead.

Featuring optional tank controls, PSX-style visuals, and retro effects, you can tailor the experience to make it feel like it’s straight out of the late 90s, or scale back the nostalgia a little bit for a more modern experience. An original soundtrack and evocative environments guide you through 4-6 hours of exploration, tension and discovery, with multiple endings waiting on the other side.

And if you’re in the “try before you buy” crowd, you can check out the demo on Steam ahead of the console release.

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