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Level Zero, a tactical, multiplayer horror game, was recently announced from independent developer DogHowl Games. Level Zero features players in teams of survivor scientists versus a team of nocturnal creatures that are vulnerable to light, set within a claustrophobic and dimly lit space station.
DogHowl is unbashful in their comparisons of Level Zero to other popular horror and multiplayer properties. Level Zero seems to emulate the same gameplay loop that is consistent in Dead by Daylight, for example, where the player team of surviving station staff members must repair power control systems, while the player team of creatures attempts to thwart and kill them. However, an announcement trailer for Level Zero demonstrates a much greater emphasis on its terrifying atmosphere and creatures.
Level Zero's official reveal trailer debuts its first gameplay footage, showcasing its impressive visuals and nightmarish creatures while giving a brief rundown of its modes and multiplayer horror. DogHowl's goal is to truly frighten players through each and every game mode it has available, and Level Zero features a variety of PvP game modes with altered player counts, such as 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and an asymmetric 2v4 mode. Interestingly, a 1v1 mode might suggest that the surviving scientist may have a considerable amount of resources at their disposal against the monster.
DogHowl also compares Level Zero to Dead by Daylight in terms of "competitiveness and the desire to win" that both games possess. But Level Zero tasks players with finding different parts and key cards, which makes players' survival much more elaborate. Level Zero's creatures also have telepathic abilities that can affect light sources and electronics to help turn the tide against survivor players and negate their progress.
Fans of horror have compared Level Zero's graphics and visual aesthetic to Alien: Isolation, particularly with its first-person perspective and retrofuturistic science-fiction elements. Most multiplayer PvP titles feature some sort of active rotation for maps and resources, so perhaps the same can be expected for Level Zero. Fortunately, DogHowl has provided a developer's blog roadmap that has detailed a few of the things players can anticipate.
It will be interesting to see what other features and modes are introduced to the game either during or after its Early Access period, such as a planned Among Us-style game mode that would position one player as an Impostor who can then "transform into a monster" as well as "pretend to be someone's partner, block doors, turn off lights" and unnerve survivors further.
Level Zero is scheduled to release in 2021 for PC.
Source: DogHowl Games