I don’t say this lightly, but this Silent Hill-inspired survival horror from Steam Next Fest gives the Bloober Team remake a real run for its money

After Bloober Team’s brilliant Silent Hill 2 remake finally came out, I basically haven’t played anything else. As hopelessly gloomy as it is, the mood leading up to Halloween is simply impeccable and, unlike the original, the gameplay and combat are actually satisfying rather than frustrating. However, there’s a new survival horror game in town that gives Silent Hill 2 Remake some serious competition: Heartworm, an indie game that I’ve had my eye on (and my hands on) for over four years.

I first played Heartworm when the first demo was released as part of the 2020 Retro-style Haunted PS1 Demo Disc, and I remember being very happy with the atmosphere and overall direction, but also having concerns , whether it could do justice to the late 90s/early 90s It’s clearly inspired by the classics of the 2000s. I no longer have these concerns after playing the brand new Heartworm demo as part of Steam Next Fest. Not even a little.

In fact, this latest release is one of the most atmospheric, clever, and yes, genuinely creepy indie horror games I’ve played in a hot minute. The story about a woman desperately trying to reunite with her lost loved ones immediately captivated me, much like I found myself both absorbed and incredibly vulnerable in the small, snowy town where a house is said to contain a portal to the other side felt. Its inhabitants, shapeless humanoids made up of static, lost-signal TV signals, are as damaging to my blood pressure as the mannequins of Silent Hill.

It’s still early and of course I haven’t had a chance to play the full game, which won’t be out until 2025, but I’ve never been more excited about Heartworm than I am now. I just had a great time with the new demo. I smiled right from the start menu when I was presented with a list of options that let me either modernize aspects of the game or keep them faithfully retro. I’m a modern man, so I disabled the tank controls and pixel filter and enabled the option that puts you in first person perspective when firing your weapon.