A brand-new stealth horror game is coming to PC via Steam in 2024/2025 that aims to be a rival to the Hello Neighbor series.
Created by independent studio, Black Fire Games, Creej’s Corruption takes inspiration from the Hello Neighbor series with the lead developer, AGW, stating in a dev log that: “this game tries to do what that game didn’t do”.
He’s referring to the neural network A.I. and open world, amongst other things, that were advertised by Tiny Build Games in Hello Neighbor 2 that didn’t come to fruition. Though Black Fire Games doesn’t state that it’s building a neural network, there are hints from dev logs and early footage that the A.I., graphics and more may be far more advanced than the Hello Neighbor Games.
So, what is Creej’s Corruption?
Creej’s Corruption is a stealth horror game about traversing the open world to find Tony, a friend who is lost or has gone missing. However, there is a disease going around that is consuming the people of Forenious. Luckily, you and your other friend Kenny aren’t affected (yet). Players are promised to go against an unstoppable A.I. that will never let you rest. The dream world is awaiting you. Don’t get caught on their property or else!
Jonathan Creej, the main protagonist
“Creej’s Corruption at its heart, was always meant to be the Hello Neighbor 2 ‘alpha 2’, or the HN2 shown in E3, or just the Hello Neighbor 2 that people never got,” said AGW.
Creej’s Corruption Gameplay
Gameplay involves investigating the open world of Forenious to find Tony while competing against a self-learning A.I. that can interrupt your movements around the map and react to everything you do. These mysterious NPCs, of which there are many, will attempt to do unthinkable things in their power to stop you from finding your friend. You can run, hide, and do whatever you can to survive, but he will find you.
Some features include:
- A skill tree for unlocking perks, such as sliding or running faster
- Unique characters that have their own behaviour
- A.I. that may befriend you and help you with puzzles
- A system where characters may call the police on you if they suspect you are doing something wrong
- A weather system with many conditions
- A.I. that can open windows, lock doors, kick down doors
- Lockpicking – opening doors that A.I. have locked
- Boss fights, which may include fighting against multiple people
- Expect to run, hide or fight while you explore the massive open world of Forenious
- Regions of the town of Forenious include Forenious Loop, Forenious Town, and Moonshadow St.
- Saving system that kicks in every 15-20 minutes
- Health system and stamina system
Creej’s Corruption will consist of six chapters with overall gameplay lasting approximately 10-15 hours for the main story, but 30 hours for full completion. Built on Unreal Engine 4, lead developer AGW says that the lighting “tech is called ‘FIS’ or ‘Fire Illumination System’. Basically, it allows any light that is present in the game to bounce around the rest of the scene. This is similar to Unreal Engine 5’s Lumen, however unlike Lumen, this system does not affect performance, and does not have the grain that lumen produces.” The developer promises to “provide a great visual experience when playing our game.”
Demo Coming Soon
A free demo for Creej’s Corruption is due in Q1 2024 and will feature “enterable background houses with their own set of puzzles and citizens living in them”. The music has also been uniquely designed with chase themes, hunt themes and ambient themes depending on what your character is doing and if someone is after them!
Unlike Hello Neighbor, the game will feature voice acting during animations and cut-scenes.
“I set a goal for Creej’s Corruption to be better than Hello Neighbor”, says AGW. “This game will evolve over time because of player feedback. The standards for Creej’s Corruption full game, at least, in my view, is to be at least slightly better than HN in all ways, whether that be better lore, better A.I, better gameplay, better graphics, etc.”
Release Date For Creej’s Corruption
The game will be released in early access on Steam, though there is the ambition to port it to consoles should it be a success, including Xbox and PlayStation.
Creej’s Corruption Early Access will initially be available priced at $15.99 for the base game and $23.99 for the Corrupt Addition – details to be confirmed. Early Access will have “huge” weekly updates and the price will most likely increase over time.
To find out more, check out the AGW YouTube channel. If you like what you see, you can support development via Creej’s Corruption Patreon.
Find out what’s hiding in the open world of Forenious, because you never know what’s lurking in every nook or cranny!