CONSCRIPT developer, Jordan Mochi of Catchweight Studios has been inspired by classic survival horror games since day one. Whilst modern horror games have moved away from a lot of the mechanics made popular by genre titans like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, Jordan was always keen to incorporate inventory management, complex puzzles and labyrinthian level design into CONSCRIPT. We sat down with him to chat about classic horror games and how he has adapted the feeling of these games for a modern gaming audience.
Was the retro survival horror inspiration something that was baked into CONSCRIPT’s DNA from day one of development, or was it something that naturally evolved as you worked on the game?
JM: CONSCRIPT was always going to be a retro survival horror game, long before it was even known as CONSCRIPT. It took me a little while to zone in on a particular setting, but I always knew it’d be a ‘history based classic survival horror game’. I just felt that most modern horror games default to settings such as haunted mansions, abandoned hospitals, sci-fi space stations, etc. This is not to say these settings can’t be interesting, I just wanted to do something a bit more unique.
What inspired you to create a game that takes a lot of its cues from 90s survival horror games, rather than creating a more traditional modern horror game?
JM: Honestly, I just prefer classic survival horror mechanics to modern horror. I’ve never really delved too deeply into modern horror games outside of the Resident Evil remakes, so I don’t have the most educated opinion on them. Although from what I’ve played, it seems that modern horror design stems from a sense of disempowerment and also more reliance on jump scares. This is just a style of design I’m not too much of a fan of, but that’s just my opinion of course. It’s cinematic, sure, but I just don’t find it as fun to play when compared to the original Resident Evil or Silent Hill trilogy.
Silent Hill 2 (©KONAMI)
To contrast, classic survival horror games have their own unique design where insurmountable odds are thrown at the player, but they are given enough tools to fight back and triumph, given they make smart decisions during gameplay. To me this is more satisfying than just constantly having to run away (again, just my preference). I like games that give me a sense of agency.
Due to my fondness of that old school design, CONSCRIPT takes way more cues from older games than modern horror.
Which of CONSCRIPT’s mechanics or features do you think best encapsulates the feeling of playing a classic survival horror?
JM: There’s a few different mechanics that make the game feel like survival horror. The level design really harkens back to exploring the mansion in RE1 or the police station in RE2 with doors that you slowly unlock and save rooms that you rest at. Similarly, the limited inventory space forces you to make calculated decisions about what weapons and equipment you need to carry through the trenches. Combat is also quite methodical, requiring you to understand your positioning relative to enemy soldiers. Guns also have a very manual old school feel where you must eject shells, pump the shotgun, etc before firing new rounds. This greatly adds to the tension of combat encounters. And for survival horror to work, tension is obviously very important.
The Spencer Mansion from RE1 (©Capcom)
The ‘classic survival horror’ description carries with it an expectation of quite a difficult gaming experience. How have you approached difficulty in CONSCRIPT?
JM: By default, CONSCRIPT shares a lot of the difficulty with those old survival horror titles. That being said, there are some ways to modulate it. At launch there will be four different difficulty modes: Training, Recruit, Soldier and Veteran. On easier difficulties you will start with more inventory slots and vice versa. The speed at which enemies will react and attack also differs between difficulties - as does the damage received from them.
Players of old school survival horror will also remember the ink ribbon mechanic, where saves were tied to a collectable item you’d find in the environment. This mechanic greatly increased the tension in a playthrough, as it gave great weight to merely saving the game - something you took for granted in most other games.
This limited saving mechanic is also in CONSCRIPT, however upon starting a new save file you can opt out of it so that saves are unlimited. Autosave checkpoints are another save related mechanic that you can choose to play with, although they’re off by default. So, with these extra save options, players can hopefully find the difficulty that best suits them.
When players think of the typical settings of those 90s horror games, they might think of old mansions, apocalyptic cities, abandoned towns, etc. What is it about the Battle of Verdun that you think serves as such a good setting for this style of game?
JM: Compared to other WW1 battles, Verdun gave me a lot of environmental variety to choose from - which was important in deciding a setting. Much like classic survival horror games like RE1, I wanted to make sure you weren’t just exploring the “mansion” but also other locations around the mansion. Of course, at Verdun you have the iconic trenches, but battles were also fought in old 19th century forts like Fort Vaux and Fort Souville, along with many different ruined towns and villages. So, you can expect to have some exciting detours when exploring the world of CONSCRIPT.
That being said, trenches are definitely where you’ll be spending the most amount of time in a playthrough. The very claustrophobic nature of trenches lends itself very well to a survival horror game. If you think about it, the reason that original mansion worked so well in RE1 was due to the cramped claustrophobic halls and that same feeling is very much naturally replicated in a WW1 trench system. I feel like Verdun makes for the perfect horror game setting.
The cramped conditions of the RE1 Spencer Mansion (©Capcom)
What challenges have you faced when adapting the atmosphere and gameplay of classic survival horror games for a modern audience?
JM: Outside of the save settings mentioned earlier, I’ve not really tried to consciously change the core gameplay pillars of classic survival horror to fit a modern audience. In fact, I’ve gone out of my way to make sure those classic core pillars are all here in CONSCRIPT. I’ve also made sure that the atmosphere of the game also feels like what you’d experience in the late 90’s and early 00’s. Although I’ll leave that up to the community to experience when the game launches. I think players will find a lot to enjoy, especially in the atmosphere and sound design department.
However, there are some ways in which the rougher controls of those old titles have been smoothed out - for example CONSCRIPT does not have tank controls, but just normal top-down controls because it’s a 2D game. I’ve tried to make a lot of basic interactions smooth and snappy when compared to older games too. From a control perspective I want CONSCRIPT to feel like how classic survival horror is remembered, but not necessarily exactly how it was at the time.
CONSCRIPT comes to Steam in 2024. Wishlist it now and check out the demo!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1286990/CONSCRIPT/