Releasing back in 1996, the original Resident Evil still stands as one of the most influential games of all time, pioneering the survival horror genre and setting up one of gaming's most iconic series. In turn, a number of titles have attempted to pay homage to the beloved classic, including the likes of Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, and Dead Space.
Another title will seemingly be added to that list very soon, with a small indie game by developer IndieNova wearing its love for Resident Evil very firmly on its sleeve. The survival horror title is called Heaven Dust, and is coming to Steam and the Nintendo Switch later this month on February 27.
While there's not much footage to go on aside from a short one minute trailer, the title appears to be an isometric zombie game that utilizes a chibi animation style rather than the more realistic design of the original Resident Evil games. Despite it looking absolutely adorable, Heaven Dust does seem to boast some creepy locations and enemies, with the trailer showing off a large mansion - similar to the first Resident Evil's setting - populated with varying zombies and a few larger foes very reminiscent of Resident Evil's frightening tyrants.
Although both titles are very visually different, there's a lot of similarities in terms of how they play. Much like Resident Evil's signature gameplay, Heaven Dust seems to incorporate a mixture of tense action sequences and light puzzle solving, with the trailer showing off instances of both. One segment sees the player being chased by a number of zombified enemies, having to carefully aim their shots to hit an oncoming foe in the head, while another moment sees the protagonist unlocking a cell to retrieve a key card. Evidently, the games will play fairly similarly, especially as the early Resident Evil releases often also tasked the player with finding keycards to access different rooms in small hub areas.
Naturally, this isn't the first indie title to attempt to revive the style, tone, and tense gameplay of an older survival horror franchise. Death of Rose was announced recently and looks to pay homage to the classic Silent Hill games, while a failed fan remake of Resident Evil 2 was turned into a new game called Daymare. Hopefully, Heaven Dust will aid in the reestablishing of the old school survival horror genre when it releases later this month.
Heaven Dust will release for the Nintendo Switch and Steam on February 27.