Throwback survival-horror game Hollowbody is coming on September 12

Hollowbody was one of the standouts from Steam Next Fest earlier this year, and it’s coming out real soon.

At a time when everyone is extremely nervous about the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake, Hollowbody feels like a total throwback to that PlayStation era of survival horror. Set in a near-future dystopia, you play as a black market runner who crashes their flying car into a grim UK housing estate full of weird things going on.

The game is presented in a semi-retro style — ’90s vibes on modern tech — and makes smart use of fixed camera angles to build tension. It has its own twists on classic survival-horror gameplay like logic puzzles and sporadic save points. There’s not a ton in the way of combat, and apparently there will be options to dial back the action further to focus on creepy exploration instead.

Hollowbody is a new project from Nathan Hamley, who aimed to create an entire game — story, art, code and even music — solo. He raised over $35,000 on Kickstarter on the strength of his previous game, Chasing Static, and a pretty compelling trailer and pitch. Fom the Next Fest demo I played after reading a very positive writeup on VG247, his singular focus on this project has kinda worked? Hopefully those backers are happy.

I’m intrigued to see how the full game pans out — and there’s not too long to wait. It’ll be available on PC (Steam or GOG) on September 12.