Team17 and developer Catchweight Studio have announced the release date for Conscript, a World War I-era survival horror game that's also Catchweight's first foray into development.
Conscript is coming to PC and consoles on July 23rd, and if you're a fan of games like Amnesia: The Bunker and classic Resident Evil, then you'll almost certainly want to keep this one in your sights.
Set during the Battle of Verdun, Conscript sees you playing as a French soldier who's searching for his brother, who's missing in action. Since this is a World War I story, I'm guessing it doesn't end well.
If you vibed with Signalis, then you'll probably appreciate the direction Catchweight and Team17 are heading in here as well, since Conscript employs a similar top-down perspective.
Catchweight promises "classic and methodical survival horror gameplay" in which you'll explore intricate levels that demand route planning and clever item management. Areas will "intertwine and overlap", too, so exploration is very much the name of the game.
You can check out the release date trailer for Conscript right here. It features an appropriately flat reading of "I Have a Rendezvous with Death", a war poem by Alan Seeger published in 1916 (the same year the poet tragically died).
As well as everything outlined above, Catchweight and Team17 are also promising that Conscript will be highly replayable thanks to its multiple endings, different difficulty settings, and "unlockable costumes".
World War I honestly feels like a very appropriate and strangely underexplored setting for horror. Of course, all war is horrific, but World War I's technological innovations and sky-high death toll give it a gravitas that lends itself well to the tension of survival horror.
With that in mind, I'll be keeping my eye on Conscript, and if you want to do the same, a demo is available right now on Steam. The game will also be available on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
