Videogame dinosaurs are back, baby. We've previously covered how Ferocious is lunging for the empty throne of DinoCrisis with its reveal in June, and now, via Gamescom and the Future Games Show, we've gotten a new look at yet another dino-themed FPS horror game, Deathground.
In contrast with the wide-open jungle survival of Ferocious, Deathground seems to be promising something altogether more intimate and claustrophobic. Deathground's trailers and screenshots show off grungy, industrial interiors that are being overtaken by nature, with vines and roots crisscrossing through darkened underground hallways.
Developer Jaw Drop Games has populated this (presumably evil science-focused) facility with all manner of Late Cretacious critters, and Deathground has a stated focus on replayability with "AI dinosaurs, proc-gen elements and dynamic objectives" in order to have "unique and intense gameplay sequences with each playthrough."
Also, hold on a minute, that motion detector doodad looks awfully familiar! There's a distinct Alien: Isolation vibe to this run-and-hide first person stealthing, and Deathground's Steam page promises "dynamic and reactive dinosaurs that hunt you down, influence decision-making, and drive a tailored experience," something that sounds awfully similar to Isolation's legendarily adaptive Xenomorph AI.
Deathground will also offer up to three-player co-op, and while we were less than enthused with the recent Outlast Trials' treatment of co-op run-and-hide horror, that doesn't make the idea a bad one. I'm hopeful that the simple, god-fearing thrill of running away from a velociraptor will prove more resilient to goofy co-op crosstalk than the highfalutin psychological scares of the Outlast series.
Deathground has an interesting idea at its core: leaning into the unpredictability of a "hunter" AI like Isolation's Xenomorph or the excellent Amnesia: The Bunker's Beast with procedurally generated gameplay elements and cooperative play. Jaw Drop Games currently has no set release date for Deathground, but you can wishlist the dinosaur horror game on Steam or follow updates on Twitter.
