Gloomwood

''Gloomwood'' is a first-person stealth survival horror video game developed by Dillon Rogers and David Szymanski and published by New Blood Interactive. Players control an unnamed doctor who makes his way through the Victorian-esque titular city. The game features stealth and exploratory gameplay, along with utilizing weapons (melee and firearms) against enemies.

The game is heavily inspired by the ''Thief'' series of games, especially its first two: '' The Dark Project'' (1998) and '' The Metal Age'' (2000). It has also been favorably compared to ''Dishonored'', ''Bloodborne'', '' Sir, You Are Being Hunted'', ''Resident Evil'', ''BioShock'', and '' Deathloop''. It has also been referred to as an immersive sim.

Having been announced in June 2020, ''Gloomwood'' was released via early access on September 5, 2022, after a delay from its initial August 16, 2022 date. The pre-release builds have received praise for the atmosphere, tone, world, level design and gameplay, but has been criticized for the unfinished elements and difficulty.

Gameplay

''Gloomwood'' takes place from a first-person perspective, with the game having the player navigate the titular city. Players have the option to rely on either stealth or weapons, with stealth often being the most encouraged strategy. The player character is given a ring, which indicates the level of light in the environment and the amount of noise being generated. For instance, being exposed to light or walking on metal and rock surfaces increases the likelihood of alerting enemies. Conversely, remaining in darker, shadowy areas and moving on quieter surfaces are encouraged to avoid detection. With a stealth approach, players can take down unsuspecting enemies from behind with a sword cane and eavesdrop to obtain information, and items like bottles and cans can be thrown to distract them.

In addition to stealth, players have the ability to fight with various types of weapons, including a sword cane, different types of guns (revolvers and shotguns) with ammo for them occasionally scattered around the map, and explosive barrels that can be activated on shot. The amount of ammo that can be found depends on the selected difficulty. The weapons can also be opened to check how much ammo is in them. Traps and harpoon guns can also be obtained.

Players carry a briefcase, which uses a grid-based inventory system, that has a finite amount of space (which has drawn comparisons to ''Resident Evil 4s inventory system). There are health items (such as syringes), coins, keys, and maps.

Areas of the map contain gramophones (indicated from the music they play), which act as save points (similar to ''Resident Evil's'' typewriter system). The map also contains secret areas with extra pickups, and shortcuts that are unlocked with different keys. There are puzzles to complete within the map as well.

Setting

The titular city of Gloomwood has been described as neo-Victorian, gothic, steampunk-esque, and industrial. The city is made up of multiple areas in one interconnected map. Some of the main areas of the map include a fishery, mines, and a lighthouse. The interior for a tavern was added in a subsequent update. On July 25, 2023, a market district was added to the map, which includes a merchant's shop to buy and sell items. Within the map are enemies, including hunters and hounds, that patrol the areas. They travel in a set pattern unless alerted or provoked by the player.

Release

Pre-release

On June 16, 2020, the game was announced at the 2020 PC Gaming Show with a reveal trailer. In the trailer, Terri Brosius (who previously voiced Viktoria in the first two ''Thief'' games) voiced the Countess of Gloomwood. Over Twitter, Dillon Rogers confirmed her involvement. A demo was released on the same day, and the early access release was given an initial release date of August 16, 2022.

In reference to its similarities with the ''Thief'' series, the developers bought the domain "ThiefWithGuns.com" for the game.

Prior to the early access release, Dillon Rogers teased at upcoming features for the game, such as the inclusion for new weapons and destructible lighting.

Early access was delayed and pushed to September 6, 2022 due to development and COVID-19 related issues. As a compromise, the "Act 2" update for New Blood's ''Ultrakill'' was released. New Blood Interactive co-founder, Dave Oshry, uploaded a video to Twitter featuring Malcolm McDowell addressing the fans of the game.

On September 5 (a day before), early access for the game released on Steam for $20 USD. New Blood Interactive co-founder, Dave Oshry, explained the release timing was done to avoid overlap with CD Projekt's showcase of extra content for ''Cyberpunk 2077''. This resulted in ''Gloomwood'' becoming #1 on Steam's top 10 for 24 hours.

Early access reception

The early access release of ''Gloomwood'' has received positive reviews from critics and players alike. By September 7, 2022, the game garnered an "overwhelmingly positive" score out of a thousand ratings on Steam.

Many critics heavily praised the game's level design, with Renata Price of ''Vice Media'' saying, " tisn’t just good—it's exceptional," and Andrew King of ''TheGamer'' stating, "he gameis a brilliant exercise in small scale level design against the backdrop of a larger world."

The atmosphere, world, and gameplay mechanics have also received praise.

Aaron Boehm of ''Bloody Disgusting'' called it "a classic in the making."

Andrei Pechalin of '' The Escapist'' called ''Gloomwood'' "a masterclass" in its use of cost–benefit scenarios, where players must weigh the benefits between using acquired gear against enemies or eschewing from doing so in order to avoid detection and/or to conserve the gear.

The game has also been criticized for its unfinished elements.
Alice Bell of ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' gave an overall positive review, calling it, "a grubby delight of a game", but criticized its unfinished nature. Because of this, Bell didn't recommend it on launch. Morgan Park of ''PC Gamer'' drew similar conclusions, stating, "It's good as-is, but unless you're truly desperate for an immersive sim fix, you're better off waiting until it's all out, which is exactly what I intend to do now."

''Gloomwood'' was also the subject of an 18-minute documentary by Noclip.

References

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External links

''Gloomwood'' on Steam

Upcoming video games
Early access video games
New Blood Interactive games
Windows games
Single-player video games
Survival horror video games
Stealth video games
First-person shooters
Gothic video games
Steampunk video games
Indie games
Immersive sims
Video games developed by David Szymanski