Survival horror has been making a comeback in a big way. In addition to seeing major IPs come roaring back to life, indie developers are finding clever new ways to scare us silly. It seems like developer Antagonist and Publisher 1C are continuing the trend with their new Norse horror adventure, Through the Woods.
Through the Woods follows a mother whose son is missing. Piecing together bits and pieces of the narrative through her retelling, players will journey deep into the Norwegian woods. Throughout the game, you will come to face to face with horrors drawn from Norse mythology and folk tales. You won’t have Thor’s hammer to stop it, either — you’ll only have a flashlight for defense.
In a press release, 1C says that Antagonist aims to capture “the feeling of the forest as they saw it as children, with all the fear and mystery that comes from roaming through it alone.” From the look of the screenshots, it seems like they’re nailing down the sense of scale and mystery.
Taking a page from modern survival horror titles, players are apparently only armed with their wits and a light source. The darkness surrounding the protagonist will play a crucial part in the gameplay, which suggests something alone the lines of Alan Wake or Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. And if a screen depicting a hairless, zombie-like creature is any indication, they’ll have to navigate it carefully.
Through The Woods seems like a return to the type of third-person survival horror titles I love. Furthermore, it’s definitely always a nice treat to see a game that’s focused on having a compelling, fleshed-out female lead. Its psychological terror and interesting subject matter points to Antagonist really gunning for something original. We’ll see how the game is shaping up at Gamescom next month, before the game goes into wide release on the PC this October.
