Horror, rogue-like, space. These are three areas that immediately inform me to have clean underwear ready, ensure that the front door is locked, and play this sort of game during daylight hours. That’s right, we have a game that ticks all three boxes: The Persistence.
Originally released in 2018, The Persistence was available on the PSVR and released by independent developer Firesprite Games. This revamped edition hits consoles and the PC this summer where the visuals have been reworked for the flatscreen, scaring the crap out of anyone who didn’t play the game before.
The premise of The Persistence is the isolation of being a passenger of a deep space colony starship, naturally in the future, the year being 2521. Your task as the player is to bring the ship back to Earth but in the process fight with murderous aberrations (I looked it up too, and I’m not going to share it – you need to learn, child). This is some freaky stuff and reminds me of a mixture of Dead Space, Hollow and even the film Event Horizon.
“The Persistence is a survival-horror experience designed to keep players on edge from start to finish, and with a procedurally generated environment forming around them, no two playthroughs are ever identical, meaning you will never find safety or security in the same place.”
Graeme Ankers, MD and Co-founder of Firesprite Games
In fear of building up the hype train too much and being swayed by this press information, The Persistence is sounding to be a real head[insert expletive]. The addition of procedurally generated environments can go either way: on the one hand, no game is ever the same, on the other, this could end up frustrating weaker gamers (hint hint). From what can be surmised though, and based on some of the reviews of the original PSVR release, The Persistence is one to watch.
Quite possibly the best option for us game collectors is the option to go digital or physical. Perp Games take the helm for the physical releases.
Here are just a few more features to whet your appetite before you tuck into the eyeball crushing sequence as seen in the arse-clenching teaser below.
- A brutal take on the survival-horror genre that integrates rogue-like design elements to give the action an extra edge.
- Procedurally generated stages that change with each playthrough, creating a labyrinth-like experience that adds to the tension.
- Live, die, repeat. Play as dozens of different clones on board the ship, each one with the potential to be stronger than the last.
- Tailored controls. enhanced environments and post-processing effects for PC, PS4 and XBOX deliver a heightened fidelity of horror for fans of the genre.
No official date has been set, but expect to get your hands on a physical copy or digital download of The Persistence this summer.
