If you are an avid gamer, I’d like for you to imagine a game that is a combination of Control, Dark Souls, and Death Stranding, and you would have something that looks like the upcoming video game title, Hell is Us. Scheduled to release later this year, this sci-fi horror title takes a lot of influence from one of Natalie Portman’s weirdest movies released back in 2018.
The upcoming game is one of those rare gems that truly dive headfirst into finding out how much you can push the limits of the mind-bending sci-fi genre. Once it’s finally out, it might take you some time to wrap your head around the storyline and mechanics, but it won’t take long before you are hooked on the game.
Hell is Us: A game inspired after a movie inspired after a book
At first glance, there is not much that Hell is Us shares with Annihilation, the 2018 sci-fi movie starring Natalie Portman that the game takes inspiration from. It seems to be just another third-person action-adventure title set in a world plagued by supernatural forces.
However, talking about how the movie has helped inspire the game in many ways, the director, Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, disclosed details in a conversation with IGN at the Gamescom 2024 event. He reveals how there is much more influence in Hell is Us than just the visuals from the movie, stating that, overall, an unusual tone is taken by the original trilogy of novels the 2018 adaptation is based on.
It was also noted how the enemies in the upcoming game appear similar to visuals from the finale of the Annihilation movie, showcasing a much deeper connection between the two different art forms taking after the same source material. Jonathan Jacques-Belletête is also known for his previous work on Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and that is exactly how I know Hell is Us is going to be amazing as well.
Hell is Us, and it’s basics: Yet another reference to Natalie Portman’s Annihilation
Much like the mysterious Shimmer from Annihilation, Hell is Us introduces players to an unexplainable zone called Hadea. Our protagonist then further ventures into this zone, only to find it overrun by supernatural beings and forces.
Even the game’s overall aesthetics echo Annihilation’s horror. Rogue Factor, the studio behind the game, has teased environments that keep shifting and changing terrifyingly, adding another layer of horror on top of the already unsettling narrative of the game.
Hell is Us not only takes after Natalie Portman’s movie but also after existing franchises and the works of legendary directors such as Hidetaka Miyazaki. The game was properly showcased for the first time in Sony’s State of Play held last year and recently got slated for a release on September 4 later this year.
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