House of Ashes is the newest game in the Dark Pictures Anthology series.
Set in 2003 during the Iraq War, House of Ashes follows a group of American and Iraqi soldiers investigating an underground storage facility where they suspect chemical weapons are being hidden, only to discover it’s a crumbling temple in which they’re stalked by an ancient horror. Check out the reveal trailer below.
Following Man of Medan and Little Hope, House of Ashes is the third installment in the Dark Pictures anthology series from Supermassive Games, the creators of narrative horror game Until Dawn. Each installment of Dark Pictures is its own self-contained experience with new characters, stories, and supernatural mysteries to solve. You can play solo or co-op, with each player taking control of different characters throughout the game. And like in Until Dawn, the choices you make can drastically affect the outcome of each game, potentially sending some or all of the characters to their deaths.
Read More: Until Dawn and the Illusion of Choice
Throughout each Dark Pictures game a Curator, played impeccably by Pip Torrens, briefly yanks the player out of the narrative to discuss the choices made, similar to the psychiatrist in Until Dawn. A Moral Compass changes direction each time a decision is made, and those choices influence how other characters view and interact with you. Dedicated players can also search for portraits hidden throughout the game that, when found, can give them hints about dangers ahead.
In Man of Medan, the first Dark Pictures game, you control a group of treasure hunters exploring an abandoned ship. Little Hope follows college students lost in an abandoned, time-shifting town. Dark Pictures games always have threats lurking in the shadows that are revealed only in the climax of the game. House of Ashes’ trailer deflates some of its mystery by revealing its monster right in the trailer.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes will be out on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC October 22.