After this year's Summer Game Fest came to an end, players were left with lots to look forward to including the highly anticipated Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, the chilling survival horror Alan Wake 2, and Polish indie game developer The Astronauts' Witchfire. Fans have been fairly in the dark over the dark fantasy first-person roguelike ever since it was announced in 2017, but the recent looks at Witchfire have drawn some comparisons to 2K Games' seminal sci-fi BioShock. There were a few updates during last year's Summer Game Fest, but in the year since, gamers have been waiting patiently to see more of Witchfire's fantastical world.
While players haven't seen too much of Witchfire just yet, it seems like it could be drawing from the BioShock series in a few ways, and it wouldn't be the first game to take inspiration from the foundational franchise. The Astronauts' upcoming title hopes to introduce players to its own unique alternative world filled with twisted magic and challenging foes, but there's still an argument to be made for Witchfire's inclusion in a long list of other games that have also sought to emulate some of BioShock's successful features. Witchfire may have its own spin on a few elements, but fans of the first-person retrofuturistic video game should find a lot to like.
Witchfire's Dark Fantasy World
Witchfire's developer is probably best known for its 2014 award-winning title, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, but its upcoming game will be a departure from the previous mystery release in lots of ways. From its focus on fantasy to its preoccupation with witchy foes, Witchfire lets players explore its open-world environments as they experiment with the various different roads to victory. Set in a time when witches terrorized the lands in an alternative medieval history, Witchfire grants gamers previously forbidden pagan powers in an attempt to curb the rise of their magical antagonists.
With elemental magic combined with FPS weapon-focused action reminiscent of BioShock's own gun-wielding hybrid combat, Witchfire's fast-paced gameplay will let players roam its cursed lands as immortal witch hunters known as preyers as they carry out the will of the Church. The game will also use the photogrammetry technology previously used in The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, which allows the developers to scan real-life objects and recreate them as digital assets within Witchfire's world. This should give the game's setting and visuals a realistic look and feel, as well as an elevated quality which could increase the fear factor.
BioShock's Lingering Influence
Some players might think that it's lazy to compare all FPS games with a hint of darkness in their settings or a touch of power-based abilities in their combat to the BioShock series, but it's an undeniable fact that 2K's franchise has had a large impact on many subsequent titles. From its alternative take on history to its combination of philosophical ideas and questioning narratives, there have been a whole host of similar games that have followed the same vein as BioShock. Other examples of how they have followed in BioShock's footsteps include the way they approach combat, worldbuilding, and action set pieces – features that BioShock may not have invented, but certainly perfected.
Witchfire's apparent similarities to some aspects of BioShock could definitely work in its favor, with fans of the latter intrigued by the upcoming game's own premise and playstyle. Titles with a hint of horror that play with established historical settings and inject them with their own interpretations of events can do well among gamers, especially if their stories are compelling and their action is satisfyingly challenging. These tend to be the characteristics that come to define games like Witchfire who appear to take after BioShock in a few different ways, and while comparisons could also detrimentally affect Witchfire's future success, it at least ensures that The Astronauts' upcoming title gets people talking.
Witchfire is in development for PC.