High school horror title What Happened has just launched to Steam, ready to place players into an LSD-fueled nightmare of the troubles that come with being a teen in modern America. The release comes alongside a new launch trailer that gives players an idea of exactly what to expect from the horror on both a psychological sense and a physical one, not unlike the recent Carrion launch trailer.
Published by Katnappe and developed by Genius Slackers, What Happened is lining up to be the debut title for the new indie studio, stepping out strong with a strange new horror title. From what the trailer shows the developer is clearly looking to make this initial title one of the standout scariest games of 2020, in a year that hasn't seen too many quality horror releases.
Players will be thrown into the shows of a young high school student, named Stiles, making his way through the campus as he is "haunted by demons, real and imagined." The first-person gameplay of What Happened calls back to horror titles like Outlast, with scares and creepy imagery targeted right at the screen in order to pull the player deeper into the startling experience. With the setting taking place in a typical high school, the world will seem familiar at first, before becoming twisted and distorting into a manifestation of Stiles' worst nightmares.
Running on Unreal Engine 4, Genius Slackers spent three years developing What Happened, making sure to take care in focusing on creating a terrifying manifestation of the unsure torment that comes with life as a teen, through Stiles. As for the player's relationship with Stiles himself, player empathy towards the character may determine whether or not he makes it through the horrors and demons chasing him through the twisted halls of his high school. Some of these demons may even hit close to home for some players, as not everything that threatens Stiles is twisted or deformed, but pulled straight from his life.
Altogether, the LSD-fueled journey in What Happened is being set up to be a whole new experience for fans of horror, if the developer is to be believed at least. It looks like what it takes inspiration from does really inform a number of the scares, although balancing the tension and thrills can be a difficult task for these types of psychological horror titles. However, if the new trailer is anything to go on, it looks like Genius Slackers can deliver on a solid amount of that balance.
What Happened is available now on PC.