The Next Big First-Person Shooter Is Not What You Think

The first-person shooter genre isn't exactly starving for new entries. From upcoming Bethesda shooters like Rage 2 and Doom Eternal to Call of Duty's and Battlefield's usual yearly installments, there's basically an FPS for every type of gamer. Yet, it's not often that new franchises are introduced to the genre. For example, all of the games mentioned above are sequels that build on what's come before instead of reinventing the wheel. Fans pretty much know what to expect.

Indie dark fantasy shooter Witchfire, on the other hand, could become the next surprise hit in a genre full of blockbusters. First introduced at The Game Awards 2017, Witchfire was one of the big unexpected announcements of the show and has continued to be the talk of many gamers on Twitter. With a Gothic aesthetic and macabre enemies that look straight out of a survival horror game, Witchfire looks like something new for the genre.

Let's take a look at a few reasons why Witchfire might be the next big first-person shooter.

While it's true that Witchfire's first trailer showcases a bit more frantic, balls-to-the-wall action than the more thoughtful Vanishing of Ethan Carter, The Astronauts' first shooter isn't as big of a departure for the developers as you might think. After all, the studio was started by Adrian Chmielarz, Andrzej Poznanski, and Michal Kosieradzki, the founders of People Can Fly, the studio behind Bulletstorm and Painkiller, two excellent shooters that don't get nearly enough praise. While you could describe both of these titles as straightforward shooters about killing as many enemies as possible, they're undoubtedly fun.

Bulletstorm, in particular, is a refreshing, lighthearted shooter full of crazy weapons with which to blow up your enemies and turn them into big meaty chunks. IGN wrote in its review of the game, "Bulletstorm demonstrates the value of 'why' for action games. Taken out of the context of its fiction, People Can Fly would have something fun but forgettable on their hands, but the way Bulletstorm fits together results in something cool and memorable."

Judging from the Witchfire trailer, which teases quite a few weapons and abilities to choose from, Chmielarz. Poznanski, and Kosieradzki may be returning to their roots with their new shooter.

While there are plenty of first-person shooters out there, few stray very far from the two most common (and arguably overused) FPS aesthetics: futuristic sci-fi and gritty real world. For every WWII or modern warfare shooting game ever released, there is probably a sci-fi shooter set in a distant planet (or ringworld) to accompany it. We don't see horror shooters very often; Doom and Left 4 Dead might very well be the series that most easily come to mind in this case — which is why Witchfire's Gothic style is so eye-catching.

Described as a "dark fantasy shooter," the game's debut trailer gives us just a hint of what that might entail. Dark swamps and woods give way to a portal into a what looks like a cemetery full of very old mausoleums and tombstones overtaken by vines and moss, all covered in a thick gray sky and fog.

There's a distinct Gothic atmosphere in this game that you don't see very often in shooters and is more akin to the horror genre. That bleeds through to the enemies you'll face as well, who are clad in armor and brandish weapons more often seen in fantasy series like The Elder Scrolls. So far, the game looks like a very unique trip.

The enemies showcased so far in Witchfire's debut trailer definitely complement the game's horror aesthetic well. We see the player face off against quite a few grotesque creatures during his brief shootout in the cemetery. The first enemy we see is some sort of giant, undead monster that lies dormant on the cemetery grounds until it's seemingly woken by a strange wind. As the player approaches, the creature turns its head toward the camera, its eyes light up like fire.

More undead ghouls show up in the action portion of the trailer, including a skeleton outfitted in what looks like medieval armor. These enemies are imposing in size and lightning fast, with the ability to dash toward the player for a killing blow, as shown in the final seconds of the video. Some of the other monsters can float in the air, providing a harder target for the player. More enemies will undoubtedly be revealed soon.