News The Church in the Darkness - launching August 2

prudis

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The Church in the Darkness

Cult-infiltration game The Church in the Darkness will launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam on August 2, publisher Fellow Traveller and developer Paranoid Productions announced. The Switch version is newly announced.

Pre-orders are available now on Xbox One and Switch at a 20 percent discount. The same discount will be available on all platforms for a week following launch. The discount is available for both the $19.95 standard and $29.95 “True Believer” editions, the latter of which includes the official soundtrack and a set of making-of videos.



No one is forced to join a cult. It welcomes you. It understands you. It envelops you until the words become more than truth—they make you whole.

In the late 1970s, the charismatic Isaac and Rebecca Walker lead the Collective Justice Mission. Labeled radicals and feeling persecuted by the US government, they relocate their followers to the one place they believe they can create a socialist utopia: the jungles of South America. There they build Freedom Town. But relatives left behind in the US become worried: what exactly is going on at this compound in the jungle?



You play as Vic, an ex-law enforcement officer who has snuck into Freedom Town to check on their nephew, Alex. Whether you choose stealth or violence, you must infiltrate the commune, find out what’s going on within, and locate your nephew, before it’s too late.

The dynamic story of The Church in the Darkness changes every time you play. It's up to you to explore Freedom Town, figure out the shifting personalities and motivations of the cult leaders, and decide what to do.



  • What ending will you get? Will you get Alex out, whether he wants to go with you or not? Will you confront the cult leaders? Will you join the cult?
  • Unlock every ending for each scenario by trying different play styles or making different choices.
  • Multiple ways to play: Avoid detection completely, taking out guards and civilians non-lethally, or kill anyone who gets in your way.
  • Interview characters from Freedom Town and search for clues. Documents and letters scattered around camp will hint at the true nature of the commune.
  • Fully voiced game, starring Ellen McLain (best known as GLaDOS in Portal) and John Patrick Lowrie (the Sniper from Team Fortress 2) as the cult leaders, Rebecca and Isaac Walker.

How dangerous are the Walkers? How far will you go to uncover the truth and save Alex? Could it all have turned out differently?

 
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Looking forward to it. :)

I bought it on itch.io last September, and I tried a few of the earlier versions.

I'm hoping the developers managed to give it the needed polish, since when I played it, it was very "rough around the edges".
 
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Similar to games you've played:
Assassin's Creed Odyssey + Mark of the Ninja :thinking-blob:

Well, ok then: in the wishlist it goes.
Well... it really isn't anything like any of those two games. :)

But, the setting is really interesting, so I'm hoping the gameplay has improved since the last time I played it.
It wasn't bad, but it was still very rough, and unpolished.
 
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Milena

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Well... it really isn't anything like any of those two games. :)
I suspected it to be the case :grimacing-face:

But, the setting is really interesting, so I'm hoping the gameplay has improved since the last time I played it.
It wasn't bad, but it was still very rough, and unpolished.
It looks like it has potential, so I'll keep it in the wishlist for now and I'll check back after a few reviews have come in (and probably not before the next sale) :drinking-blob:
 
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gabbo

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First I've heard of it.
I think it could be quite interesting as most games don't try to tackle cults from this angle, they're usually fronts for demons or added in as jokes.

If this can tackle the subject matter and have gameplay that doesn't trivialize it by being too game-y (fetch quests, repetitive dialogue, brain dead ai) it could be quite something. I'll wait to see how it plays before diving in.
 
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The game launches tomorrow.
I already have my key (pre-ordered it last year on itch.io). :thumbsupblob:

Here's the latest email update I received, with some further info regarding the launch, in case anyone is interested:






Announcing Our Guest Writers

Last week we announced that we are shipping this Friday, August 2nd. That's tomorrow!

But there's one more piece of news I wanted to share ahead of our launch. Today I'm happy to announce the guest writers that I invited to flesh out the world of the Collective Justice Mission.

I was delighted to have Chris Avellone, Marc Laidlaw, Steve Meretzky, Brian Moriarty, and Brenda Romero all contribute to the game.



As long time readers of this mailing list know, building Freedom Town has taken a long time. Not only the world itself, but also the people in it. For each character I would ask, what sorts of person joins a cult?

Then I had an idea: wouldn't it be interesting to get some other writers to flesh out the townspeople? The writers I invited were all people who inspired me when I was first getting into making games.
  • Steve Meretzky is a legendary interactive fiction author, from Planetfall to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to my favorite A Mind Forever Voyaging.
  • Marc Laidlaw you know for writing the Half-Life franchise.
  • Brenda Romero goes back to the Wizardry and Jagged Alliance franchises, but you may know for her more recent art piece games like Train.
  • Brian Moriarty reinvented graphical adventures with Loom but also worked at Infocom, including the remarkable Trinity.
  • Chris Avellone you know for writing RPGs from Fallout to KOTOR to my personal favorite, the dark epic Planescape: Torment.

Each of these writers wrote supporting characters who you learn about through letters, journal pages and other documents scattered around Freedom Town, some quick hits, some quite substantial. Read more about why these writers were important to me on today's post on the Xbox Blog.

The Guest Writers of The Church in the Darkness - Xbox Wire


And not to fear, though we announced it on the Xbox blog, the guest writers' work appears on all platforms. Each of these writers were gracious enough to contribute to the world of Freedom Town and I am eternally grateful to each of them.

And on Friday, you can see what character each writer thought would join a cult.
Launch Discount + Pre-Orders

To celebrate shipping, we will also be doing a discount - all platforms will be 20% off for the week of launch. For the US, that brings the game down from $19.99 to $15.99.

We are doing pre-orders on two of the platforms, which should get you that same discount:
Or now is a great time to Wishlist us on Steam (if you haven't already)
Also you can learn more about our procedural narrative in this morning's PlayStation blog post:
Or tomorrow you can grab it on the PlayStation store:

On Steam only, you can opt to pick up our True Believer special edition. This gets you the 28 song soundtrack, including 10 songs from our cult leader actor/musicians Ellen McLain and John Patrick Lowrie, and a healthy collection of behind the scenes videos we've assembled that we think you'll enjoy.

Picking up the game on launch day August 2nd is a big help to us, and immediately lets you dive into the twisted mysteries of the Collective Justice Mission.

Our day is almost here.

- Richard
Director/Designer/Writer
 
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and its out
Got my copy. :)

But, with an Euro Truck Simulator 2 event almost over, and some new Hitman 2 content out, among other things, I'm not sure if I'll be able to properly play it this weekend.

If anyone plays it, please post impressions.
I'm curious how the final game is.
 
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