Gloomwood developer Dillon Rogers has released gameplay footage of upcoming tweaks to the game’s monster serum transformation system. What’s new is that we’ll be getting even more chances to use the monster juice, but I just hadn’t realized how far reaching the system as a whole really was.
The video shows Gloomwood’s pragmatic protagonist, John Gloomwood The Doctor, turning into a bat man to tackle multiple zones in the world. His new form not only allows some crazy platforming stunts via a super jump move, it also grants the ability to just pass by hostile monsters because they think you’re one of them.
This really blew me away, because Gloomwood’s mutation system is starting to look like a combo of some of the coolest game mechanics we’ve seen in recent years: Mario Odyssey’s transformative enemy possession power-ups, and Hitman’s social stealth disguises.
Like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle or Fallout: New Vegas, Gloomwood’s disguise system looks much simpler than Hitman’s latticework of outfits and social stealth interactions, but as yet another system added to an already-complex stealth game, it’s seriously impressive.
Combining that with an entirely new movement system to open up the levels just feels genius, like how every enemy in Mario Odyssey could have been the star of their own indie platformer, all three of Gloomwood’s monster power-ups strike me as a worthy anchor to their own stealth/horror/action/whatever game. Making them a small part of a larger whole just feels generous.
It also harkens back to the Source engine glory days that loom so large as an inspiration for New Blood: I’m reminded of playing as the zombies in Left 4 Dead, or being a mutated killer in the cult asymmetric multiplayer shooter, The Hidden.
In the video description, Rogers says that, in an upcoming update to Gloomwood, we’ll get even more uses out of a single vial of monster juice, opening up its use as a tool out in Gloomwood’s hostile city. That will be especially nice given how strict the game’s attaché case inventory is.
I’ll be continuing to practice stoic restraint regarding Gloomwood, though, like my colleague Morgan Park. I’ve played a bit in early access, and it’s already got the value of a completed game, but I want to wait and see how it comes together in its 1.0 launch. If you’re less patient than me, you can grab Gloomwood for $20 on Steam.
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