Image gathered Tarsier Studios’ Hunger press kit
Earlier this week, as I was checking through my usual internet haunts, I happened across the first teaser for a new indie game; a called Hunger. …In fact, before I say anymore here’s that teaser. Just watch it. Right now.
The game’s developer, Tarsier Studios, describes the game as an “adventure-suspense” game on it’s official page. I’ve never heard of the genre before, in fact I’m willing to be that it didn’t exist before Hunger, but hearing it described that way definitely makes sense based on what’s shown in the teaser. From what I’ve seen of the response so far, many are making comparisons to LIMBO and Little Big Planet and I can definitely see why. The perspective and visuals definitely resemble LBP while the dark tone is very reminiscent of LIMBO, but this strikes me as more than a simple combination of those games. This definitely doesn’t look like a simple mash-up of platforming and heavy atmosphere. No it looks like it’s going to shape up to be something…else.
What I’m seeing shown in this teaser is definitely a horror game, just not the sort we’ve gotten used to over the last several years. For the longest time now, horror has meant getting in the player’s face. It’s meant jump-scares, blood and gore, mangled abominations, and always from a first-person or over-the-shoulder perspective. They’re either shooters or stealth-based, with observation/concentration games like Five Nights at Freddy’s being more of an exception than a rule. So it’s definitely a surprise to see a horror game based around exploring and puzzle-solving (with what looks like some occasional hiding).
This teaser is really only first taste of a game that is still early in development according to its page on Tarsier’s site, but if the final game is anything close to the kind of experience this teaser is hinting at, then I think all of us horror game fans will be in for a treat. In the meantime though, we wait.
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What were your impressions of Hunger? What sort of game do you think it will shape up to be?
That game looks really interesting. The teaser was genuinely creepy without being gross like horror usually is. I think I’ll have to check this out. I have been looking for more horror games to play after Slender: The 9 Pages, but I don’t want anything gory, so Hunger looks like the game for me.
This does look like a “scary” game I could play! Not only is it very visually appealing, but the puzzle-solving and platforming looks to be right up my alley. (Frankly, I’m just happy to see anything horror without zombies. No more zombies…please.)
Indeed, I don’t want to just walk around being scared. I still want to actually do something. It is a game, after all. Yeah, zombies are getting old. And I prefer scary games where you don’t see anything. So I suppose if you never see the zombies…
Creepiness is definitely preferable to being startled and grossed out, and this game looks like it knows that. We’re not a powerful character, visibility is poor, everything is large and imposing, and its still somehow very claustrophobic.
High hopes for this one!