The Quiet Man, a new action-adventure game that blends live-action video with gameplay, will launch next month, publisher Square Enix has announced.
Developed by Human Head Studios, the creators of the original Prey, the Quiet Man centres around the story of a young deaf man with a penchant for punching named Dane, as he searches for a kidnapped singer called Lala.
The above trailer shows snippets from both the game and its live-action sequences. The live-action bits seem well shot and acted, at least, although the transition from that to the game sections is a pretty stark one. How the game will actually play isn’t clear from the trailer either, although apparently the combat system is choreographed by Tatsuro Koike, the same fellow who directed the fights in the Yakuza games.
One thing that Square Enix do make clear is that the player will be experiencing a “soundless” world. According to the description on the game’s Steam page, The Quiet Man will include “very little distinct audio and no subtitles”. Presumably that will only be during the in-game parts, given the live-action element. Another interesting aspect of the Quiet Man is that it runs against the grain of monster 30-hour open-worlds, and is instead designed to be completed in a single sitting.
It’s certainly unusual, and I confess that I’m intrigued to see how it all plays out. It’s been a long time since Human Head developed anything that could be considered a hit, after suffering the particularly galling cancellation of Prey 2, so I hope The Quiet Man makes some noise for them.
The Quiet Man launches on November 1, and will cost $14.99 on Steam.
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