Cruising around the internet today, I stumbled on something new and rather interesting coming from RealityArts Studio and publisher Toplitz. The team that brought us The Stranger VR announced its next game: Unwake, a first-person melee game that drops you in the middle of a war. But it’s not just any war; it’s a holy war with a description that could have come from the mind of Spawn creator Todd McFarland.
Heaven and Hell are waging a war in Unwake, and you’re in the center of it with a big-ass weapon in hand. As described in the Steam page, you are the “last bastion.” Naturally this means it’s up to you to decide the fate of the human race. During Unwake’s “dystopian end-time,” humanity is caught in the middle of a serious rock and a hot place. What becomes of the squishy mortals is apparently something baked in as a morality system. “Punishment or absolution” is something you bring to your foes, generally in the form of an ax, sword, or bow.
Powered by Unreal Engine 5, Unwake is quite the pretty game. In the trailer, which includes some actual gameplay, we see worn-torn ruins stretching into the distance, damaged statues, and towers that reach beyond the sky. Storms churn overhead with an eerie orange glow. And some enemies look especially demonic, swinging massive weapons or belching out rivers of fire. If there’s anything to critique, it’d be the fact that the game appears to lean on a limited color palette of blue and orange. While it looks great, the ubiquitous color scheme may get dreary after a while.
Playing both sides
Unwake won’t be a simple melee game. The developer is promising more than 20 skills to upgrade along with multiple types of customizable weaponry. Unwake will have story-based progression, telling a story “spanning eons” that blends dark fantasy and science fiction. I suppose the futuristic giants in the trailer are a nod to the latter.
So far, Unwake is looking rather promising. The game is on its way to PC via Steam next year.
Published: Aug 9, 2022 05:30 pm