This time, Castle Rock is going non-linear and much longer, say the developers.
What I adamantly believe is one of the best co-op games on PC is getting a fourth game in its friendship-testing crash course on effective communication. We Were Here Forever (which I'll forgive for not being named 4ever) is arriving in May as the next in the series of co-op escape room puzzlers.
As with all three previous games in the series, We Were Here Forever separates you and your co-op partner into different parts of the mysterious Castle Rock, using walkie-talkies via in-game mic chat to stay in contact with one another. Escaping each part of the castle requires you and a friend to sort out puzzles together while each of you explores a room with only half the solution. Some are deadly, timed escape rooms. Others are symbol-based logic puzzles. One of my favorites from the second game was a brain-tickling invisible chess conundrum.
"We Were Here Forever ramps up this adventure with new, nonlinear ways to explore the sinister castle together," says Total Mayhem Games. "Make your way through previously unseen parts of Castle Rock, and once outside the Keep you will begin to uncover the story of Rockbury: the town’s inhabitants and the escape plans of a resistance formed against the King."
The studio says it will have a 12+ hour play time—definitely the longest of the bunch yet, which range from 2-6 hours—and slightly more expensive at $17.99. Total Mayhem says this will also be a "grand finale" to the spooky stories of Castle Rock.
Admittedly, I've always been focused on the puzzles in the We Were Here series and managed to retain nothing of their stories—aside from the haunting laugh of the recurring jester character. If you're curious, there's also a new lore video right here presenting the castle's haunting history as a read-along story time.
The video also gives two quick glances at environments from the upcoming game. One is a ruined, snow-covered storage room with puppets hanging from its rafters. I'm not sure what sort of task you and your pals will be tackling there, but it is quite spooky. The other is a red and stormy stone town that must be Rockbury. In its press release, Total Mayhem Games also reference a graveyard and a foundry, likely more puzzle locations.
Total Mayhem says that it will be continuing the lore video series in six parts with additional stories and sneak peeks at We Were Here Forever leading up to launch on May 10. It'll be coming to Steam and the Epic Store at launch.
If you're curious but not committed, you can still play the original two-ish hour We Were Here for free, which I genuinely recommend you take for a spin with a good friend.
