The Polish indie studio The Astronauts is currently working on the dark fantasy shooter Witchfire. As the developers themselves reveal, they have been significantly influenced by Bungie’s Destiny series in some design decisions.
What is Witchfire? The developers of the Polish indie studio The Astronauts are currently working on their dark fantasy shooter Witchfire. The studio consists of former developers from People Can Fly.
This is also evident in the latest project, as Witchfire is said to have an interactive story and focus on exploration, much like “The Vanishing of Ethan Carter”. Additionally, it is expected to feature great gunplay like “Painkiller” and “Bulletstorm”, on which members of The Astronauts also worked.
This is reflected in the first teaser, which initially focuses on the world before ramping up with weapon action against mysterious monsters.
What exactly Witchfire is about is still unknown. However, it is said to become a fantasy game with gunplay, for which the studio has dealt with witch hunts.
How is development going? The studio keeps players informed on its website with regular blog posts. In one of the latest posts, they mentioned that they have taken some inspiration from Bungie’s Destiny series.
As the Creative Director Adrian Chmielarz says, the way weapons feel in Destiny and the physics-based movement are the best in the industry for him.
For many design decisions that the developers came up with, Chmielarz said “Look at how Destiny does it”. In addition to Destiny, the studio has also drawn inspiration from other games. Chmielarz hinted that Witchfire shares some similarities with the Dark Souls series.
What do players say? Players seem to be interested in Witchfire. Especially the first trailer, which initially made the game look like a “walking simulator” before later enticing viewers with action, was well received by players.
The reference to Destiny also seems to intrigue rather than bother people.
As user jcitysinner on Reddit states: “The gunplay looks identical to that of the handgun in Destiny. This is probably the most satisfying weapon I can imagine. So I am fully on board for anything that comes up in this game.”
NaughtyGaymer says on Reddit: “If they manage to master the combat of Destiny and incorporate the storytelling of a Soulsborne game, this game could become a massive success.”
