During our stay at Milan Games Week 2019 we ended up in Transylvania. Not literally, of course, however the air we breathed when we entered the dark room of Hunedoara immersed us in a dark as well as intriguing atmosphere.
Hunedoara was born from an idea of the AIV, paradoxically as a sort of summer project to be carried out during the holidays. Yet, already from that little demo it was possible to see something special on the horizon. So it was that a partnership was then formed with Ignition Publishing to continue the project, now aimed at something bigger.
But let's move on to discuss Hunedoara a little. Perhaps the name for some is not entirely new, as it is a small municipality present in Transylvania, Romania. And it is precisely here that the events of a protagonist whose name we do not know take place. Narrated by Oreste Baldini, our iconic voice, the man we identify with returns to Hunedoara, his homeland, after several years spent in the United States for study reasons. The reason for his return is due to his health conditions, despite which he will still have to fill a mysterious job position at Miskatonic University.
Even this last name is not new to you, if you are a fan of Howard Philips Lovecraft. Not surprisingly, there will be numerous references to him and to the myth of Cthulhu. The Hunedoara that the protagonist will find, however, will be completely different from his expectations. Dark, cramped and disturbing is the atmosphere that falls upon the player once immersed in this story-driven adventure. Hunedoara is a first-person horror, made up of several elements that characterize the genre. Similar in nature to that of Amnesia, we will only have a torch to guard jealously and, yes, no chance to face or defeat the creatures that lurk in the shadows.
What mainly struck us is the incredible care in the realization of the locations, in particular the Castello dei Corvini, the presumed final destination of the title. Furthermore, as you play, it is difficult not to notice the attention to detail, also placed in the creation of the portions of the map that can only be explored optionally. Hunedoara, thanks to a vast and non-linear environment, allows the player to move freely - at his own risk - and collect as many clues as possible, with reflections from the protagonist; or you can try the quickest and most direct way to reach the Castle.
We have shown a good job from a technical and graphic point of view. Unfortunately we cannot expose ourselves on the sound side, as the conditions present at the fair did not allow us to have a concrete response except for the unmistakable voice of Baldini while he was reading some letters scattered in the gloomy abandoned houses of Hunedoara. However, we are more than optimistic about the final result on this front as well. In this regard, according to the information provided by the staff of AIV and Ignition Publishing, Hunedoara will rise from the dark night around the end of 2020, and will initially be released on PC. There is still no specific information on any console versions, but in the long term it would be in the developers' plans to release it on other platforms as well. And we obviously hope this happens.
Hunedoara turned out to be an interesting and terrifying surprise. It seems difficult to think that so few people are giving life to such a well-defined and curated project. The boys of the Videogames Academy are doing a great job with a complete Horror of the most varied and small elements that make up the genre. Hoping to try the accomplished title soon, we strongly advise you to keep an eye on this title, scheduled for the end of 2020 on PC.
