There’s a downside to the next generation of console gaming, one that most of haven’t thought about: Horror games are going to be even more pants-crapping terrifying to play once all that new hardware grunt hits store shelves. While Microsoft has been talking a big game with the upcoming Xbox Series X, Sony has kept mum about the specifics of the PlayStation 5.
While you won’t be hearing what’s under the hood right now save for that delicious sold state drive which will kill loading screens off quicker than a red shirt on a Star Trek away mission, you can imagine how the bump in performance will impact gaming and the horror genre. One such developer who couldn’t wait to wax lyrical about how their game will function as proof of the brown note? Martha Is Dead developer LKA’s studio head, Luca Dalcò, who sat down with Official PlayStation Magazine via Games Radar to chat power.
“PS5’s specifications are incredibly exciting – particularly for us is the additional graphical power and inclusion of ray-tracing architecture,” Dalcò said to OPM.
Our studio has come a long way over four years and Martha Is Dead will strive for photorealism. We’re excited to see next-generation hardware incoming to support us bringing our vision to players. We worked a lot in order to use the highest-resolution textures as possible also on PS4; nonetheless, PS5 will allow us to use an incredible Texel density, up to 4096px/m – that means the visual will be fully detailed also in higher resolutions. It’s one of the most important advances in visual capability that we were waiting for!
That ability to render realism will be a key selling point for Martha is Dead (Don’t tell Batman), a psychological horror set in 1944 Tuscany where players embark on a tour of Italy during the height of World War 2 and experience all manner of mental disturbances. “Martha Is Dead is a story, and video games are the medium, Dalcò explained.
Whatever medium you choose to tell a story, you must harness all of its attributes to capture the imagination of your audience, so for Martha Is Dead we must strive for the best visual quality – in the photorealistic style we have chosen – and the best gameplay we can invent.
And that’s where ray-tracing comes in, as the fanciest new tech on the block has helped create gigantic overt and covert leaps forward in giving video games their best chance yet at closing the uncanny valley gap. “It’s an “incredible technology […] for independent studios,” Dalcò said.
Allowing games to reach new levels of realism without the need for huge teams. As the technology matures and becomes even easier to implement, I think it will really transform the indie game space. This next generation of consoles is set to transform the market.
Sounds impressive, so I already hate it for the jump scares that’ll leave my heart pounding like a John Bonham drum solo.
Last Updated: March 10, 2020
Original Heretic
March 10, 2020 at 15:18
Dammit. Buying a PS5 is going to mean requiring a new TV!!
My current FHD probably won’t handle all the pretty.