Some games, you can just look at and immediately say to yourself, "Yeah, I want to play that." The Axis Unseen is one such game: It's a "heavy metal horror game" about hunting horrific monsters from ancient folklore being made by Bethesda veteran Nate Purkeypile, whose previous credits include Fallout 3 and 4, Skyrim, and Starfield. Yeah, I want to play that—and in October, I will.
The October launch window is not a full-on release date, which I find ever-so-slightly annoying, but at least it's semi-specific target—and mostly we're here just to look at the trailer anyway. It is, as promised, very metal. Associate editor Ted Litchfield got excited about The Axis Unseen last year, saying it struck him as something of a cross between Skyrim-style stealth and a Witcher-esque world, albeit one that seemingly hasn't seen the services of a competent monster hunter for a very long time.
Thus, the gig is yours. "Hunt nightmarish monsters from ancient folklore in a mysterious open world, collecting their enhanced sense powers and discovering elemental arrows," the Steam page says. "Follow their tracks and blood trails. Pay attention to the wind direction so they can't smell you approaching ... Upgrade your senses with the powers of the creatures. See scent particles. Feel the warmth left behind on their tracks. See colors that no human has ever seen."
Oh, also: "Beware, the hunter is also the hunted." Well, it can't all be roses, I suppose.
A few of the creatures in the trailer look like innocent woodland animals just minding their own business and that makes me feel a little bad, while others are more overtly unpleasant. But looks can be deceiving, and thinking about it a little more I suppose the reasonable likelihood is that any creature roaming around in this thoroughly hellish world probably isn't Bambi incarnate. After all, something has to be responsible for those massive skeletons locked in ritualistic poses, right?
Writing on Twitter, Purkeypile acknowledged that The Axis Unseen is a game you either really want to play, or that you probably don't. "I'm glad it's your thing," he tweeted in response to a user who expressed excitement for the game. "It's not for everyone, and that's okay, it's for some people who think this idea sounds awesome."
You can definitely include me (and Ted) on that list. The Axis Unseen is available for wishlisting now on Steam.
