Slain! needs another few weeks to stew, publisher Digerati announced today. What Wolf Brew Games intended to be an October launch (and later, December) has become a January 2016 release. That news might dismay some Slain! followers, but the delay was a deliberate one.
Digerati quotes:
The scope of Slain! has grown enormously since Andrew started working on it, alone, more than 2 1/2 years ago. This extra month will give the Wolf Brew Games team time to spend polishing Slain! and making the boss fights as challenging and entertaining they deserve to be. There will be at very least 7 main boss fights, with a number [of] mini-bosses to defeat in order to progress through to each of the ‘Tower’ sections of the levels. A ‘good’ player should be looking at a play through time of around 15 hours!
15 hours is a generous proposition from any independent team, more so when you consider the game’s cost. When questioned by prospective players, Nick Alfieri reported an asking price of $12.99 in September.
Whether that price proves firm or flexible, nothing could detract from the aesthetics. Slain! fuses a heavy metal soundtrack, cunning combat, and precise platforming into a retro-loving potpourri. Non-linear progression and no grinding should impress players, too. Doubting the veracity of those claims? Find more screenshots here (Slain! looks even better in motion).
While the Super Nintendo-era Castlevania games and Dark Souls appear to be the obvious influences, this gory, hack-and-slash homage largely borrows from Ghosts and Goblins, Altered Beast, and more. If Slain! graced us two decades sooner, my ecstatic kid mind would melt, if my Sega Genesis did not implode first.
Fans will have to settle for a PC release for now, though Xbox One, PS4, and Vita versions are not off the table. Two months may seem a lifetime away, but prepare to die— Wait, wrong tagline. Prepare to be Slain! when the nightmares arrive January 27, 2016.