![]() ![]() Environmental design is fantastic, with areas offering a number of winding paths to pick your way through which allows for a good degree of replayability. Unlike a lot of stealth game, combat doesn’t feel like failure and can be quite satisfying once you unlock the Shotgun. The moment-to-moment gameplay, sneaking through a number of horror-inspired environments is also solid. These elements all serve to bring you into the world of Gloomwood in a way that traditional UI elements never could. ![]() You drag and drop items in and out and can also arrange them within the briefcase much like the inventory in Resident Evil 4 to maximise space. Rather than pausing the game while you access an abstract menu, the Doctor pulls out his briefcase, places it on the ground and interacts with the items in and around it directly. Perhaps the most impressive element of this design is in the way you access your inventory. Health is checked by pulling up your journal, which makes slightly less sense, but helps keep that level of immersion. This can result in some tense moments when things kick off and you are forced to use your guns. There’s no health bar or ammo count, instead you view your ammo by holding down the reload button to crack open your revolver where you can count how many shells are left in the chamber the differentiating how many still have a visible firing pin. This design ethos is reflected throughout Gloomwood, whereby HUD elements are removed and information is gleaned by reading your environment and interacting directly with items. To aid your sneaky exploits the Doc utilises a ring which glows when you are in well-lit areas and darkens when you are out of sight. Enemies are powerful and can take you down quite easily, however you can take them out if you remain undetected and hit them with a charged swipe of the sword. ![]() Gloomwood is based around stealth, with lots of time spent creeping around the shadows waiting to strike at opponents with your cane sword. The end result is something very special, even in this early access state. Gloomwood takes a number of different systems and ideas from some key influences, mixes them together and adds a little bit of extra magic. It sounds like a lazy description, but it’s one New Blood are happy to run with. With very little hand holding you then set off, sneaking, shooting and stabbing your way through a fish processing factory, a mine, a forest and the dark and windswept cliffs. The creatures spend some time discussing your fate before a shady sounding voice calls you over to a dark corner, passes you a key and helps you escape into the sewers.įrom there you are given instructions to head for a lighthouse (very Bioshock), which upon emerging from the sewers looms ominously on the cliffside. You play as a mysterious unnamed Doctor who awakens in a pit with two ominous looking hooded creatures peering over you. Gloomwood, at least in its early access state is fairly light on story. There’s always a lighthouse, there’s always a man ![]() Fans of the classic PC games (or less well received sequels) will know what to expect here, but Rogers and Szymanski have managed to pull all those discrete influences together in a way that is far more than the sum of its parts. New Blood have gone with the catchier description of “Thief with guns” and indeed chose this as the URL for the game’s Steam page ( ). If you imagine a combination of Thief, Resident Evil, Bloodborne and Dishonoured, with a lick of early noughties visuals you’re probably in the right ballpark. The game snuck out a day earlier than announced in an early access state, apparently a snap decision made to avoid clashing with the sudden announcement of Cyberpunk 2077 DLC.Īs a big fan of New Blood Interactive and the recent Switch port of Dusk (which I highly recommend), I was super excited to take a look at Gloomwood. If you’ve been following the development of Gloomwood you’ll know this one has been a long time coming, having been initially announced at the PC Gaming Show during E3 2020. Introducing: Gloomwood Early Access Review ![]()
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