MWM Interactive has just released a brand new trailer for a new horror title, Mundaun, being developed by Swiss based developer Hidden Fields. The short trailer shows a small amount of the upcoming title's gameplay alongside some cinematics, all with a retro theme that really elevates the creep factor in certain scenarios.
Hidden Fields has been developing Mundaun since 2017, and the debut title for the company is set to launch in Spring 2021, so it’s a bit of a ways out at the time of this writing. While this will be the developer’s first released game, the publisher, MWM Interactive, does have a number of VR horror games under its belt.
What stands out most about the Mundaun trailer, is the graphical aesthetic that makes the game look more like a PS2 title than a modern release. However, while the graphics may have a retro style to them, this is likely more a result of function, rather than from the limitation of the artists working on the game. This stems from the fact that Hidden Fields has reportedly hand-penciled the entire game, making the blockier, low-poly graphics a better mesh for placing hand-drawn art assets.
From what the trailer shows, this aesthetic certainly doesn’t take away from the horror elements at play, and may even lean gracefully into the uncanny valley. A similar approach has worked in the past, most notably with games like Bendy and the Ink Machine’s retro style that pairs low-poly models with hand drawn assets in order to keep the sketched details. However, aside from the way the game will look and a few shots of a player looking through some creepy locales, it isn't clear exactly what the gameplay is going to look like from the trailer alone.
Seeing as this is Hidden Fields' debut game, it's fairly safe to say that Mundaun is going to be an ambitious title, as the developer will be staking their foundation in the industry as a producer of horror titles next Spring. Exactly what that means for players looking to challenge the game itself, however, is still fairly up in the air, although a few things can be assumed from this early trailer. One thing is certain, the hand-penciled style and the unsettling locations and visuals certainly do give the game a creep factor, which may be enough to bring the game to the heights the developer needs on release.
Mundaun is set to release in Spring 2021 for PC and unannounced consoles.