The Astronauts, an independent design studio, have just unveiled a new scorching gameplay video that highlights the spellcraft in their forthcoming dark fantasy shooter, Witchfire. The video features senior game designer Karol Krok’s commentary and exhibits the various elemental magic options accessible to witch hunters, enabling players to deploy an assortment of spells, hexes, and curses against their foes.
Spellcraft is designated into two distinct categories: light spells and heavy spells. The former are quicker to deploy and cost less stamina to use, but don’t do as much damage as their heavier counterparts. In the gameplay video, we can see the witch hunter execute a fearsome heavy spell that summons a phantom bell capable of stunning nearby enemies when properly shot.
Krok also reveals the four core elements that comprise the majority of spells and magic within the game: water, earth, fire and air. Each has its own unique properties—setting enemies aflame increases the amount of damage they can take, for example—and utilizing different elemental spells in quick succession can achieve powerful combined effects. Ultimately, the wide variety of spellcraft available to the witch hunters is just as vital as their arsenal of guns, and both will be crucial for any soul brave enough to conquer the Land of the Witch.
From the creators of Painkiller and Bulletstorm, Witchfire is a first-person shooter set in a dark fantasy world in which a deadly war rages between powerful witches and the Church. In this alternate reality, witches are very real and very dangerous— but so is the witch hunter. Armed by Vatican sorcerers, players wield an infernal array of guns and forbidden magic as they combat dark terrors on behalf of their shadowy benefactors.
After shifting development from arena-style fighting to open-level combat, Witchfire is on track for a release to Early Access this year. For further details on an Early Access release date and upcoming Witchfire news, follow the team on Facebook, join the conversation on Twitter, or wishlist the game on the Epic Games Store.
About The Astronauts
In 2012, the original founders of People Can Fly and the creative leads behind Painkiller and Bulletstormstarted a new independent studio. They named it The Astronauts to emphasize the idea of visiting unknown worlds and taking risky but exciting new directions— which explains why their first game, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, was a weird fiction horror, and the second, Witchfire, is a dark fantasy first-person shooter.