It's not often that a game's name really and fully nails down the vibe, especially when it's only three characters. But a new trailer for the survival-horror shooter ILL showed up at the Summer Game Fest tonight, and yes indeed, that is what I am now feeling.
First and foremost, we're doing it all-caps—ILL—because otherwise it becomes "Ill," which is just about impossible to parse. Second, to the nature of the title itself, a few reactions to the new trailer from the PC Gamer crew:
- "These are upsetting"
- "Those are some creepy fucking zombies"
- "This looks legit unpleasant"
- "Jesus" (that was me)
But look, you be the judge:
Zombie games are a dime a dozen, but ILL looks set to raise the bar, at least in terms of uncomfortable visuals. Just in case it didn't come across adequately in the trailer, the game promises "intense body horror with an advanced dismemberment system," experienced on "a dark trip through an enthralling storyline and the heart-pounding horror of a once peaceful town."
"Prepare to embrace new boundaries of horror," the Steam page says. "ILL offers a visceral and realistic depiction of body horror: disgusting, monstrous creatures can be gruesomely dismembered and traumatized. Torn flesh, exposed bones, and gutted organs—all combine to create an unprecedented and vicious experience that will leave you breathless."
I honestly can't say that sounds like something I'm super into, and yet the trailer, while being extremely off-putting, is also captivating. I want to look away, and yet I can't. I think that comes in part from the fact that somehow, the video keeps upping the ante right to the very end—something genuinely goddamn awful happens, the title text pops up and for a split-second you think, whew it's over. But no—because then something even more awful happens! And I don't like it—but I kinda like it, if you know what I mean.
Honestly, I'm not even sure what I mean. But as much as I don't care for this sort of thing—I'm really not a body horror fan—I have to play this. I have to at least try it. Because how do you watch something like that and not at least a little bit want to, y'know, just see what it's all about?
Here, have a nice up-close look.
ILL is being developed by Team Clout Inc and will be the first game published by Mundfish Powerhouse, a new publishing initiative recently launched by Atomic Heart developer Mundfish. Mundfish itself had a pretty big day at the Summer Game Fest showcase too, revealing Atomic Heart 2 and a new multiplayer RPG-shooter set in the Atomic Heart universe called The Cube. ILL doesn't have a release date yet but it's up for wishlisting on Steam. Yes, I have wishlisted it.
