Unholy may be the best looking indie game that I have ever played. This was my main takeaway from playing through the Unholy preview; a new horror game coming later in 2023. Considering the small size of Duality SA, – the studio developing the game, – the stunning visuals that Unholy is able to offer are suddenly made that much more impressive.
Unfortunately, outside of the gorgeous visuals, the Unholy preview seemingly doesn’t have much else to offer. The gameplay feels like every other generic first person horror game you have played, complete with lacklustre puzzle-solving sequences and tacked on jump-scares to boot. If you are seeking a title that pushes the boundaries on what a modern horror title plays like, then Unholy might not be what you are looking for.
As previously mentioned, Unholy is a visually stunning title. The environmental assets are incredibly detailed, both in the courtyard and inside the apartment block where the beginning of the preview takes place. The trees sway gently in the breeze, and the lighting effects filtering through the leaves create an immersive atmosphere. The same level of quality is evident indoors, with meticulous attention to detail, from individual scratches on the kitchen floor to the overall clutter of the apartment.
The graphical area that lets the rest down is the character models. They simply don’t always match the same level of detail as the environments, particularly when it comes to animation. It is here that the player is reminded that they are not playing a AAA title. With that being said, Duality SA have informed us that certain aspects of the game are still a work in progress, so we can look forward to further improvements as development continues.
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Other than the pretty graphics on display, the other main reason to play Unholy is to experience the game’s plot. The game is set in a post-soviet era city controlled by an oppressive priest caste. Players assume the role of Dorothea, a grieving mother who refuses to accept her son Gabriel’s death. While the neighbours consider it a tragic accident, Dorothea suspects foul play. Memorial stations are set up outside her apartment block for the community to mourn, but she rejects this display of sympathy, setting the stage for the first section of the demo.
Unholy’s gameplay may feel familiar to fans of the horror genre. The tight field of view and the weightiness of panning the camera in first person contribute to a sense of vulnerability. Although the sensitivity of the camera control can be changed, the FOV cannot. Interactivity within this opening level is plentiful, allowing players to engage with various items in the world, such as putting vinyl onto a record player, tuning an old TV for reception, and discovering hidden collectibles and notes.
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The second section of the demo introduces the “in-between,” reminiscent of the upside-down dimension in Stranger Things. It presents a familiar, yet darker and more broken-down version of the soviet-era town. Although this section was brief, it left a lasting impression. Hopefully we get to see more of the in-between in the full release of the game.
The final segment of the demo takes us to the Unholy world, an amplified and distorted version of the previous sections. The once recognizable soviet-era town is now unrecognizable, with overgrown vegetation and a dystopian atmosphere. Subway tunnels are infested with mysterious tentacles or slithering branches, and frozen human figures evoke the haunting remnants of Pompeii. The ideologies of the priest caste have transformed the city into a nightmarish hellscape. The visual fidelity and the art direction continue to impress, effectively pushing the narrative forward. Citizens are sacrificed in the streets, and masked figures patrol the area with elaborate masks corresponding to their roles. It is in this Unholy world that the demo really begins to shine.
The Unholy preview offered a twisted look into a dark world.
Equipped with her own mask, Dorothea embarks on a mission to find her supposedly deceased son and unravel the mysteries of the Unholy world. Exploration and puzzle-solving go hand in hand as players progress through the environments. Finding additional masks grants Dorothea various abilities, such as scanning the environment for interactable items to aid in puzzle-solving. Additionally, Dorothea’s son’s slingshot transforms into a useful tool in the Unholy world.
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Dorothea wields a slingshot that harnesses the power of four distinct emotions: anger, fear, sadness, and desire. These emotions become tools for her to manipulate and engage with the environment around her. These emotions serve different purposes, such as creating a smoke cloud with sadness to fend off enemies or generating an electric shock with anger. During the demo, we encountered these two emotions and discovered an additional mask, expanding Dorothea’s arsenal and aiding her survival in the Unholy world.
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Unholy is set to release later this year, and the developers have thoughtfully partitioned the three areas of the game in the demo to avoid spoiling too much of the story while providing a taste of what awaits players. Each section took approximately 15 minutes to complete, resulting in an overall demo experience of just under an hour. Overall, it left me wanting to check out more, albeit with a cautious sense of optimism.
A code PC for Unholy was provided to FandomWire by Renaissance PR.
