Blood West News

[h2]Gunslingers![/h2]

Today, we wish to invite you to Blood West early access. Our immersive survival-horror FPS will have you exploring twisted wild west environments, scavenging for supplies, hunting deadly monstrosities, and gaining power to face terrifying bosses. The game is priced at $14.99 in the early access period, and the pioneers getting it in the launch week will also enjoy a special 20% release discount.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1587130/Blood_West/

Note - Blood West game is already feature-complete, polished, and packed with content. The Early Access begins with the first out of three planned expansive areas to explore, each with its own non-linear scenario.

[h2]What is Blood West?[/h2]

Blood West is a stealth shooter inspired by such classics as S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Thief, System Shock, Deus Ex, or Blood, but also hugely influenced by Crytek's excellent online title - Hunt: Showdown, while being a strictly single-player experience itself. There's a lot of ways to describe it, but it is best that you see for yourself - here's a chunky, 25-minute developer-gameplay, going through one of the first quests and showcasing some basic, and more advanced mechanics:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
(No, the protagonist doesn't speak as much in the game as in the video - it's just the commentary that was recorded by Jake Parr, who also voices the Revenant Gunslinger in the game).

To sum up the Blood West experience in a few bulletpoints:

• Blood West is not a non-stop action-focused velocity shooter. It's best taken slow, and thoughtfully, with sneaking, surveying the surroundings, planning your attacks, and going head-first into combat only when you're sure you're at an advantage.
  
• Combat mechanics in Blood West are more complex than you might expect. Enemies have weak spots (usually the head), and can take a lot of damage before dying, unless you use their vulnerabilities.
  
• Weapons have different stats, and usually guns that you loot from the enemies or find discarded somewhere, are old and rusty, and won't perform great. There are also different types of ammo, and some are more effective against certain enemy types than the others.
  
• Your character - the Revenant Gunslinger - gains experience, and levels up. When that happens, you get some skill points to distribute unlocking very useful perks in the character screen. Different perk+weapon combinations allow for very different approaches to the game. Try different playstyles!
  

That should get you on the right track. Do pay attention in the tutorial area - it's short but it will do a good job introducing you to the basics. Now, we'll let you discover everything else in the game by yourself. Good luck!

[h2]Why Early Access?[/h2]

Blood West is a complex game with some sandbox gameplay, and a lot of moving parts. We would love to see how you'll be playing it, what will be your approach to its many challenges, and what will be your thoughts on the game's world, systems, and general experience.

At Hyperstrange we've had the best of experiences with involving the Steam community in the development process, by including them in our work cycle through Early Access. Games like ELDERBORN and Jupiter Hell wouldn't be what they are today, if it wasn't for your involvement. We want to approach Blood West the same way.

While we have a complete and quite precise vision of the game in our minds, we know we can make it even better by giving ourselves space to work with your feedback. We're hoping to hear from you here, in the Steam Hub Forums, but most of all we're eager to talk with you on Hyperstrange Discord.

[h2]How long Blood West will remain in Early Access?[/h2]

Long story short - we expect to put another 6-8 months into development, before releasing in full, with two substantial content updates, one adding the second of three planned scenarios, and the third adding the final scenario bringing the game to full release.

[h2]Why is the demo gone?[/h2]

Some of you keep asking that question. We've decided to say farewell to the Blood West Demo that we've introduced 4 months ago during Steam Next Fest. While we understand that this will disappoint some of you, we think that the outdated demo did not represent the game properly, and was doing us a disservice. While it did a great job giving Steam players a taste of what Blood West is, it was very limited in terms of content and mechanics, and did not present the level of polish we were aiming for. We don't want anyone to play it and assume that that's all there is to the actual game.

[h2]Good luck![/h2]

Here begins the Ballad of the Revenant Gunslinger, a wicked soul roaming the curse-tainted frontier, looking for a way to destroy a greater, eldritch evil, holding the land in its clutches. Now, this is your story, too.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Enjoy your time with Blood West, and take back the frontier, gunslingers![/h3]

As Steam Next Fest draws to a conclusion we want to thank everyone for stopping by and trying out our demos. We've had tens of thousands people playing the featured games, hundreds joining our community Discord to offer feedback, and posting on social media!

Many of you have been asking "will I be able to keep playing the demo after Next Fest ends"? Steam suggests all Next Fest demos should be timed, to create a sense of urgency and make sure the players wishlist the game. But this is simply not the Hyperstrange way. We're old enough (well, some of us) to remember shareware times, when demos came on floppies and lasted forever (well, some of them). Cutting to the chase: the demos stay, at least until their respective games get released. Here's what you can play, in case you missed some of them:


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
RAYZE is a genre-defying hyper-paced music-filled first-person AIM RACER. Hit a target to accelerate. Miss and you slow down. Hit a wall and die. Find the fastest route. Get to the finish line. Simple? Yes. Easy? Hell no. Who said training to be your own aim-bot can't be fun? Welcome to your new casually hardcore obsession!

The DEMO consists of the entire first sector of the game, that's 5 tracks for you to figure out and master, one bite-size FPS speedrun at a time. Achievements to unlock, global leaderboards to compete with friends and strangers... Just two more weeks until full release! Ready? 3... 2... 1... Let's RAYZE!


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
BLOOD WEST, an immersive Wild West FPS where a revenant desperado takes on the twisted demons and eldritch horros in a cursed, desolate mining town. Hell is empty and all the devils are here! Plan your steps, be stealthy, gain advantage, manage your resources, and paint the world dark red! Blood West was the second most-played Hyperstrange demo in Steam Fest, and there's already many players telling us they cannot wait for the release, despite the game being brutally hard! If you missed the DEMO, you can still try, and if you like the experience of being the Revenant desperado, please remember to add the game to your wishlist!


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Supplice is a stylish throwback shooter that made a lot of people happy during the Steam Next Fest. inspired by the mid-90s FPS glory days and the legendary Doom modding community. Mixing the retro stylings of 90s era shooters with colorful graphics and frantic gameplay, it creates an experience that's ever so familiar but also exciting and fresh. The team behind the game is a real hot pot of Doom modding and FPS development legends, starting from Brett 'Mechadon' Harrell, the project founder, through Aleksander 'Cage' Kowalczyk, the lead artist also known for his work with Ion Fury, to James 'Jimmy' Paddock, the lead composer, known from his midi soundtracks to Sigil, Prodeus, and many other talents. Please check out the DEMO and follow & add the game to your wishlist if you want to stay up to date with its development.


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Skullstone is a true to its form dungeon crawler with grid-based movement, real-time tactics combat, and first-person view. Lead a party of adventurers into the under-realm, looking for glory, gold, and a solution to the ancient evil plaguing the town above. A real stand-out in the FPS action-focused Hyperstrange catalog - why not give it some appreciation by playing the DEMO and wishlisting this pure-blooded classic RPG.



[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Last, but in no way the least in our Steam Next Fest lineup, POSTAL: Brain Damaged dominated the First-Person Shooter category, reaping the most wishlists and getting over 20 000 demo downloads. If by some strange twist of fate you're here but you don't know what is POSTAL: Brain Damaged... it's a spin-off of the Running With Scissors cult series, firmly rooted in the POSTALVERSE, but taking more gameplay cues from modern shooters such as the latest DOOM, than the fan-acclaimed POSTAL 4, the latest entry in the main series. This time around the story follows POSTAL DUDE on a journey through the dark and bizarre landscape of his own mind, which gives the developer a chance to explore new depths of weirdness, madness, and gore. The gloves are off! See for yourself - play the DEMO and make sure to hit that wishlist button hard! (Please note that as we focus on developing the game, we won't be able to update the demo, so it will reflect the state of development in September 2021, even if you play it in May 2022, when the game is getting released. Expect improvements and changes!)

As we wrap-up the event, we feel immensely grateful to the wonderful Steam player community who show us so much appreciation. Please keep your feedback coming - if you have any to offer, please join our community Discord. We strive to make your live stranger and filled to the brim with good old action, and it's such a rush to see that you enjoy what we bring to your screens. That is it for today, be excellent to each other!

Yours truly,

Hyperstrange was one of the most notable studios/publishers at Realms Deep 2021. True to our roots, we treat the "boomer-shooter con" as our main event of the season. Yes, with the amazing help and support we've received from the organizers (3D Realms, New Bloods, and others), Realms Deep is our E3 this year. And it wouldn't be a E3-styled event if we didn't announce a whole lot of stuff. Did you miss it? Here's what went down!



[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
BLOOD WEST, an immersive Wild West FPS where a revenant desperado takes on the twisted demons and eldritch horros in a cursed, desolate mining town. Hell is empty and all the devils are here! Plan your steps, be stealthy, gain advantage, manage your resources, and paint the world dark red! Wild West FPS games are few and far apart, so if you enjoy this setting and gameplay type, please support Blood West by adding it to your wishlist!


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
RAYZE is a genre-defying hyper-paced music-filled first-person skillrunner. Godlike FPS precision & superhuman reflexes are welcome, but not required. Welcome to your new casually hardcore obsession. Adrenaline rushing, dopamine pumping, electronic pulse beating! 3.. 2.. 1.. Let's RAYZE! If you like a challenge, please consider adding the game to your wishlist, but you can also check it out right now, as there's a DEMO available!



[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Supplice is a stylish throwback shooter inspired by the mid-90s FPS glory days and the legendary Doom modding community. Mixing the retro stylings of 90s era shooters with colorful graphics and frantic gameplay, it creates an experience that's ever so familiar but also exciting and fresh. The team behind the game is a real hot pot of Doom modding and FPS development legends, starting from Brett 'Mechadon' Harrell, the project founder, through Aleksander 'Cage' Kowalczyk, the lead artist also known for his work with Ion Fury, to James 'Jimmy' Paddock, the lead composer, known from his midi soundtracks to Sigil, Prodeus, and many other talents. Please add the game to your wishlist if you want to stay up to date with its development.


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Skullstone is a true to its form dungeon crawler with grid-based movement, real-time tactics combat, and first-person view. Lead a party of adventurers into the under-realm, looking for glory, gold, and a solution to the ancient evil plaguing the town above. Well, adventurer? Get crawling! Or, actually, let's start by wishlisting Skullstone, so you don't miss the demo that's heading to the October Steam Next Fest.



[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Jupiter Hell is a turn-based shooter from the depths of cosmic hell, built on a classic roguelike framework updated with modern 3d graphics. Rip and tear zombies, demons, and heavy metal monstrosities with chainguns and chainsaws. Like chess... with shotguns! This spiritual successor to Doom Roguelike launched in full on August 5 to both player and media acclaim. “A Turn-Based Triumph - Jupiter Hell is an engaging and commendable recreation of DOOM's style in turn-based roguelike form that will please just about everyone.” writes Screen Rant, giving the game 4,5/5 stars, while Kotaku calls it "an absolute gem".



[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
POSTAL: Brain Damaged is our flagship in-development title that we create as an original IP based off the infamous POSTAL series, under the watchful eye of MikeJ, Vince Desi, and the rest of the Running With Scissors crew. First announced at Realms Deep 2020 in early pre-alpha stage, it quick became somewhat of an obsession with the POSTAL community, and there's a lot of people who have been asking, no, demanding to see some final-quality gameplay footage. That's exactly what we delivered at Realms Deep 2021... plus something extra. If you are a POSTAL fan or a general boomer-shooter enjoyer, please add Brain Damaged to your wishlist and follow the project, so you don't miss the chance to play the Demo that will be featured on Steam Next Fest this October!



[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
While Frozenheim, our serene Norse city builder with RTS combat, didn't make the cut for the already lengthy stream, there's an announcement that we're stoked to make. Today marks the 100 000 Steam purchases milestone for Frozenheim. That's one hundred thousand Vikings in our Frozen North! This is the second game in our catalog to reach the 100k player tier, following our debut title, ELDERBORN, which - as per our Realms Deep announcement is coming soon to Xbox (alongside our bite-size FPS, CROSSBOW: Bloodnight)

All this is a huge step for Hyperstrange (or a whole marathon, actually), as a small indie studio with just one game published a year ago, to a... slightly larger indie studio that's becoming a hub of game development and publishing. If you're reading this - please know, that you have our utmost gratitude - we couldn't have done any of this without the tremendous support our games are receiving from the Steam community! That is it for today, be excellent to each other!

Yours truly,

PS. Thank you, Ty!