The creator of popular animated short The Backwater Gospel is making an FPS inspired by 'Half-Life and the golden age of narrative first person shooters'

pixelated, stylized old man with mustache and round glasses in gloomy environment.

(Image credit: Mygind Mathorne)

Animator Bo Mathorne, creator of the 2011 animated short, Backwater Gospel, has revealed a new game project alongside developer Thomas Mygind: Skarven, a crunchy, lo-fi (but not too lo-fi) FPS inspired by narrative-heavy late '90s/early aughts shooters like Half-Life.

Skarven's first trailer is all mood and light on action. The player approaches a lonely country house with an industrial mill looming behind. In Danish, a TV anchor drops some crumbs of world building as the player creeps through the house: We're seeing a rising retirement age and increased labor automation thanks to a Children of Men-style bottoming out in fertility rates. We pick up a chunky, Fallout 10mm-looking pistol, the TV cuts out, and a freaky, Nihilanth-type dude pops out to attack.

Skarven Teaser Trailer - YouTube

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I'm digging what I see, including an oppressive northern European dreariness, some great sci-fi/alt history scene setting, and stellar art direction, which pairs Mathorne's style with early aughts, PS2 vibes, but "how you remember it." I'm reminded of Nightdive's approach to the System Shock Remake, which boasted high-fidelity assets paired with deliberately noisy, pixelated textures.

If you're like me and weren't familiar with The Backwater Gospel, it's a nine-minute animation from 2011 that, while not bigger than Jesus, certainly surprised me with its popularity: The original upload of the short has a staggering 4.6 million views on YouTube, but you'd be better served watching Mathorne's high-quality, 4K reupload from last year.

It's a freaky and surreal piece of work, portraying a western town haunted by a supernatural undertaker who causes a single death with every visit⁠—except this time, when he just shows up and waits. It's got a great look to it, grotesque, stylized, and a bit Tim Burton-y. Everything else it reminds me of came after The Backwater Gospel's release: Darkest Dungeon, Disco Elysium, and Don't Starve. Skarven does not yet have a demo or planned release window, but you can wishlist it now on Steam.

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch. You can follow Ted on Bluesky.

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