Routine brings survival horror to outer space

There’s a small, four-person development company based in the UK that a lot of people don’t know about. But based on the gameplay footage put out for its first game, it’s a company that has a real chance to make a name for itself. I’m talking about Lunar Software, and the game, first reported on by CNET, is called Routine.

Routine is centered on the single survivor aboard a moon base. All the others on the base have vanished and some event has clearly taken place that has knocked out much of the power. Worse yet, there’s some kind of enemy creeping about, and it may be the reason all of your fellow inhabitants have disappeared. The footage from the game, which is in alpha, shows the player quietly making his or her way through the base, peeking around corners, avoiding enemies and trying to solve the mystery of what exactly happened.

I’m all about scary movies, and I appreciate when a video game tries to get you feeling that same level of tension. The early Resident Evil games did it really well with the fixed camera angles, to the point where players were afraid to turn a corner. Another game I really enjoyed, while it isn’t as well known as the Resident Evils and Silent Hills of the world, was The Suffering for the original Xbox. That game didn’t just torment you through the use of enemies, it also used psychological warfare — holograms and hallucinations that usually appeared when you weren’t expecting them.

Routine looks like it’ll be right up that alley. Instead of the grunts of zombies or other noises / images appearing, the silence and darkness are what will really be messing with your head. And, as you see in the video clip, there’s always chance you’ll turn the next corner and see some mysterious creature off in the distance. And you’ll hope to God that it doesn’t see you back.

You can expect to see Routine later this year, and it’ll be available through Steam on both Macs and PCs. Check out the gameplay video below and let us know what you think. Does it look scary or tame?