Broken Spectre
Teaser Trailer for Cosmic Horror VR Title, Broken Spectre is Unleashed
Posted March 17, 2023Toronto, Canada - March 17th, 2023 – Award-winning Canadian video game developer Games by Stitch, a division of Stitch Media, presents the first trailer for their upcoming cosmic horror narrative for hand-tracking VR, Broken Spectre, releasing this summer for the Oculus Quest 2.
Watch the Broken Spectre teaser trailer here.
In Broken Spectre, players take on the role of Casey, a strong-headed adventurer haunted by her troubled family history. Twenty-five years ago your biologist father entered the treacherous wilderness of Coldblood Mountain National Park and never came back. When you learn he may still be alive, you’re compelled to find him. Breaking into the closed park to track his path, you instead find his mutated experiments. Climbing to higher and more dangerous elevations, you face worsening weather, deadly frostbite, and grotesque horrors. Trapped in the mountain’s maze, you wonder, is time distorting your reality, or are you going mad from altitude sickness? As you collect gruesome clues, decipher cryptic puzzles, and perform cult rituals, you delve deeper and deeper into family traumas in this mystical slow-burn horror story.
In Broken Spectre, players take on the role of Casey, a strong-headed adventurer haunted by her troubled family history. Twenty-five years ago your biologist father entered the treacherous wilderness of Coldblood Mountain National Park and never came back. When you learn he may still be alive, you’re compelled to find him. Breaking into the closed park to track his path, you instead find his mutated experiments. Climbing to higher and more dangerous elevations, you face worsening weather, deadly frostbite, and grotesque horrors. Trapped in the mountain’s maze, you wonder, is time distorting your reality, or are you going mad from altitude sickness? As you collect gruesome clues, decipher cryptic puzzles, and perform cult rituals, you delve deeper and deeper into family traumas in this mystical slow-burn horror story.
This intense survival story draws inspiration from cosmic horror masters like H.P. Lovecraft and John Carpenter, and is presented in an immersive VR environment that takes full advantage of the hand-tracking capabilities of the Oculus. Producer Sonya Suraci emphasizes that the technology behind Meta’s VR hand-tracking capabilities is key for players to experience the unearthly narrative in Broken Spectre.
“Players will see their own hands bloodied, frostbitten and much worse.” says Suraci. “There’s something special and uncanny when experiencing this without any controllers. At one point you must stick your hand into a snake’s den to be bitten and the bite starts festering immediately.”
Broken Spectre’s cutting-edge hand-tracking mechanics require no controllers, making the gameplay experience uniquely intuitive -- literally hands-on. Players use their own hands to examine objects, climb sheer rock faces, and fight for their lives, all building up to elements of gruesome body horror.
“This game is meant to take you out of your comfort zone.” describes Evan Jones, Founder of Games by Stitch. “It’s a story that begins in a beautiful forest valley but each step raises the stakes. Sometimes a jump scare will lurch you forward, but the deepest fear in cosmic horror is when you realize the world is not as it seems. The final climb to the peak is one you won’t easily forget.”
Broken Spectre is the first horror game from Games by Stitch, who previously dazzled players with their 3D puzzle platformer Terrorarium (IndieCade E3 2019 Selection) and the magical mixed reality VR escape room Flow Weaver (Best VR Game, Cinejoy Awards 2021). The game is executive produced by Mike Monello, one of the minds behind the iconic wilderness horror film The Blair Witch Project (1999).
“VR allows for unprecedented immersion and Broken Spectre takes full advantage of that,” Monello explains. “As you uncover the chilling realities of Cold Blood Mountain, you’ll be consumed by a deeply personal cosmic horror story that will occupy the darkest recesses of your mind.”
Lead Designer Michael Smilovitch believes Broken Spectre’s cosmic horror elements have the potential to produce a sense of existential dread in players.
“To what extent do our parents determine our nature? Are we doomed to repeat their mistakes? How different are we from the video game characters we embody, being piloted by elements beyond our control?”
With the launch of Broken Spectre’s teaser trailer, Games by Stitch expects players will soon be pondering these thought-provoking questions.
