Gloomwood finally has an early access release date
Ever since the excellent demo for New Blood's Thief-inspired stealth action game hit Steam two years ago, I've been waiting very patiently for it to become a full game that I can play. Thanks to a new Gloomwood trailer that just premiered at the PC Gaming Show 2022(opens in new tab), I now know that wish will be (partially) granted in just a few months.
Gloomwood is coming out in early access on August 16. That is presumably the first chunk of Gloomwood levels, not the whole game. The reasonable part of me would like to wait to play it until the whole game is out, but considering it was my favorite E3 game of last year(opens in new tab) and continues to live rent-free in my noggin, I doubt I'll be able to resist.
Why are I and a bunch of other stealth fans psyched for this particular indie retro throwback? Because Gloomwood is the sort of first-person immersive sim that we just don't get enough of these days. Gloomwood comes from the Thief/Dishonored school of game design, so think rope arrows, snuffing out lights, stabbing baddies with a sharp blade, and resorting to a gun when things have to get loud.
If you're the type of person whose ears perk up when you hear the word «diegetic,» then wait until you see Gloomwood's inventory. It's a literal briefcase that the player pulls out and sets on the ground or on tables in real-time complete with grid-based item sorting straight out of Resident Evil. Objects in your FOV can also be dragged and dropped in and out of the briefcase and become a physical item in the world. Rogers used the example of unloading a bullet from your revolver and tossing it as a sound distraction for enemies.
New since last year's five-minute gameplay video is the Undertaker pistol, a single-fire
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