3D Realms announce Graven, a fantasy FPS loosely inspired by Hexen 2
I think because it has wizards?
Swords and sorcerers will collide with a big wet thunk in Graven, a retro-styled fantasy FPS announced over the weekend by co-publishers 3D Realms and 1C. They claim it's a "spiritual successor to Hexen 2", with puzzles, monsters, "open-ended regions" to explore without waypoints directing you, and all sorts of stabby and zappy weapons. It's being made by Slipgate Ironworks, who did 2013's Rise Of The Triad remake and the dire Bombshell. The game's not out until 2021 but they have shared big lumps of gameplay to watch for now.
Here's 10 minutes of narrated explain-o-gameplay from a pre-alpha version:
If you want even more, a whole half-hour without commentary is in this video.
"Graven began as a game we had often dreamed of," said Frederik Schreiber, the game's director and vice president of 3D Realms, in the announcement. "'What would a spiritual successor to a Dark Fantasy series such as Hexen, have looked like if it was made in 1998 in the original Unreal engine?' We think the answer is Graven. We hope you do too."
I do not. That comparison is weird. Graven does not resemble the concept he describes, which I think sells this game short too. And for god's sake don't remind me of Hexen 2's bloody daft puzzles if you want me to like your... ah look, I shouldn't fuss over this, because all marketing quotes are bad and Graven looks like it could be fun.
Graven is coming to PC via Steam sometime next year. It's also headed to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbone, and Xbox Xeriex X.
Slipgate Ironworks are the gang formerly known as Interceptor Entertainment. Continuing the fun with names, the 3D Realms of today are not the 3D Realms of yesteryear, their remains having been consumed by a Danish corporate entity which includes Slipgate.