A Plague Tale: Innocence is a game about two children in 14th-century France struggling to escape the soldiers of the Inquisition in a world overrun by deadly swarms of plague-ridden rats. It was unveiled at E3 2017 with a trailer that creeped Joe out pretty thoroughly, and earlier this week publisher Focus Home Interactive announced that it will be out on May 14 and released the first of a series of videos going behind the scenes of the game's development.
The video focuses primarily on the game's central characters, Amicia and her young brother Hugo, children of a noble family who are left to fend for themselves when their parents are killed. The circumstances are murky, but it sounds like shenanigans: The siblings are in possessions of a "dark secret," which is why the Inquisitors are so eager to hunt them down.
Interestingly, the children in the game are voiced by actual children, Charlotte McBurney and Logan Hannan. "Both are immensely talented and have their own approach to and opinions of these realistic, troubled characters," Focus Home said. "They were instrumental in the writing process, as they suggested dialogue additions and alternate takes to better fit the children they were embodying. As your constant companions throughout the adventure, their work is as vital as anyone’s to creating a moving, emotional experience that will stick with you long past the first playthrough."
The rat swarms are a maybe a little overly piranha-like, but this is a historically-inspired videogame, not a history lesson—and they look cool, so I'm happy to let it slide. A Plague Tale: Innocence will be available on Steam, and there's a website you can nibble on at aplaguetale.com.