Shadwen is a "true stealth game" from the makers of Trine

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The new project in the works at Frozenbyte, the studio that gave us Shadowgrounds and Trine, is a "true stealth game" called Shadwen, in which the only rule is to remain unseen. And maybe kill a few dudes. Or, you know, a whole bunch of dudes. Hey, omelets and eggs, right?

"The stealth genre has been in a slump for years. Guns blazing and invincible heroes is not stealth," Frozenbyte CEO Lauri Hyvärinen said. "Shadwen will bring the genre back to its roots, with sneaking and hiding [as] the main course of action. We will also explore the moral consequences of killing through our characters."

Shadwen will feature time manipulation, allowing the assassin to halt and even rewind time to gain an upper hand against otherwise overpowered guards. Objects can be dragged and toppled, traps can be set, and some murders can even be made to look like accidents. Or you can embrace the true mastery of stealth and finish the game with no blood on your hands at all.

Time manipulation notwithstanding, it all sounds very old school, like those great Thief levels that slapped you in the face with a failure if you offed even one single guy. That's legitimately exciting stuff. More information about the game is up at Shadwen.com and we've also got the trailer and some screens below, all taken from a pre-alpha build of the game. Shadwen is expected to be ready for release sometime in 2016.

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.