Blood West is one of the better indie shooters to emerge in recent years, a dark Western spin on Stalker in which you roam dusty Badlands fighting eldritch horrors. The game’s been well supported since its release in 2023, too, with developer Hyperstrange releasing a bunch of expansions, including the recent roguelike themed Scavengers DLC.
Yet while Hyperstrange continued to support Blood West, the game’s director has been busy working on a new project. That was revealed earlier this week as Bloodwoven, and it looks to be something of a spiritual successor to Blood West, albeit much, much weirder.
At a glance, Bloodwoven looks like it takes place in a polar region, but the land you see is in fact the decaying body of a long-dead god. You play as tribesmen native to this world who are birthed into existence via giant blood-pods (ew). But something has gone wrong with those pods, and they’ve started spewing out unholy horrors instead of your mates and cousins.
Bloodwoven’s key hook is its fully simulated ecosystem. With various animals roaming the world—such as toothy uniwalruses (I don’t know if that’s what they’re called, but it’s sure as hell what I would name them)—preying on each other as well as yourself. There are also various tribes in the world who have their own customs and motivations, and they’ll react differently to you depending on your actions in the game world.
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As you’d expect in a survival game, you’ll also need to tend to your basic needs. Alongside food, temperature is a major factor in Bloodwoven, and you’ll need to ensure you keep warm by wearing warm clothing, building campfires, brewing hot drinks, and avoiding falling into icy-cold water.
You’re also free to explore wherever you dare in Bloodwoven. The game features a Peak-style climbing system that lets you climb any mountain provided you have the stamina to do so. Just ensure that you prepare adequately, both for the climb and whatever may be lurking on the mountain’s summit.
There’s a trailer you can watch above. Bloodwoven sounds horribly rad, and rad-ly horrible. There’s no release date yet, but I reckon we’ll see Bloodwoven emerge from its igloo sometime next year.
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