Ex-Bungie designer reveals Asemblance, a psychological thriller inside a machine

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The introduction to the upcoming psychological thriller Asemblance (yes, it really is spelled with one “s”, no, we don't know why) is straightforward, and yet also very much not: “You wake to find yourself trapped inside an experimental machine. A machine built to simulate memories. You have no idea how you got here... But to break the cycle, you must look into a past that you may not want to remember.”

Asemblance is inspired by The Twilight Zone, The X-Files, and the Black Mirror television shows, as well as games like PT and The Stanley Parable, that “allow players to explore different theories and ultimately engage one another to learn the truth,” Nilo Studios Creative Director Niles Sankey said on the PlayStation Blog. “We were inspired by this approach to create a narrative where you’re never quite sure what’s real or what’s not.”

Nilo is a relatively new studio, but Sankey said its developers have “years of experience making games, writing books, and producing music” in the Seattle area. Sankey himself was at Bungie for almost ten years, where he worked on both Halo and Destiny, before founding Nilo.

Asemblance is set to come out some time in May, which is just a week away, and despite the announcement only referring to the PS4 release, Nilo confirmed on Twitter that it's coming to Steam as well. Find out more at asemblance.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.