POSTAL: Brain Damaged update, Blood West Chapter 2, Supplice release date, INCISION release, new games in the catalog, and more Realms Deep 2023 news from Hyperstrange
Hyperstrangers!
It is that time of the year again. Boomercon is upon us! Or Realms Deep 2022, if you will. We've had six announcements this year, so let's jump into it without further ado. This serves just as a summary - more detailed posts will be popping up on appropriate game pages within a day or two. Let's go!
INCISION - Early Acces launch + Special Offers!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1734680/INCISION/ Check out our nevest, explosive release! INCISION is a rare gem - a very retro-looking, unforgiving throwback shooter, that's so full of wonderfully-executed ideas, that it feels fresh and juicy. That is if you like your juice in the taste of rust, rot, and horror. The game launched on the day of Realms Deep main event - 16 September, and is already gaining a lot of praise from the players on Steam. If you like games such as DUSK, you can't afford to miss INCISION. And speaking of DUSK - DUSK owners get extra 15% off the price that's been already lowered by 15% in the release week. Similar discount applies for owners of Nightmare Reaper and Hedon, with even more bundles on the way! Get your tetanus shot, and plunge into the horror now!
POSTAL: Brain Damaged - Horde Mode announcement
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1359980/POSTAL_Brain_Damaged/ POSTAL: Brain Damaged has already gotten a small balancing update. Now, on September 19 it's getting another one. Much more substantial - it should help a lot with the balance between exploration and combat, thanks to the new ammo mechanics. Wait, that's not what you just saw in the video above? That's very perceptive! November 10 will mark the release of the Horde Mode in POSTAL: Brain Damaged, so you can spend even more time with the Brain Damaged Dude!
Blood West - Chapter 2 announcement
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1587130/Blood_West Your favorite eerie wild west stealth-shooter with a bit of a immersive sim aftertaste has exceeded our initial expectations as to the reception and popularity. In wake of such success the Blood West team has been expanded, and the project was granted an extended development schedule, to deliver more content than it was originally intended. The second out of 3 chapters in the story of the Revenant Gunslinger will hit Steam on Halloween, and you'll be getting a map that's 1.5 larger and tighter packed with events and NPCs then the first one.
Supplice - release date announcement
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1693280/Supplice/ According to some sources, Supplice is the best-looking game in the entire Hyperstrange catalog. Well, beauty takes time! We've hold off making the announcement of the release date, to make sure Mekworx team has enough time to work their magic. Now, we're happy to announce the date you've been dying to know: 30 march 2023!
77p Egg: Eggwife - new game announcement
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1317020/77p_egg_Eggwife/ We fell in love with Eggwife after first seeing it in the Realms Deep 2021 showcase. Now, after we've released POSTAL: Brain Damaged it's perfectly clear, that the audience wants us to take things a step further. Or a lot of steps further. To go so far, that we'll end up in UK. Eggwife is what would happen if the Brits came up with POSTAL, but... it's so much more. An immersive sim? A dating sim? A shopping cart driver sim? You name it! Maybe just go wishlist it, and get the Demo for you to plau
GHOSTWARE: Arena of the Dead - new game announcement
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1893370/GHOSTWARE_Arena_of_the_Dead/ We strive to bring overlooked, original titles to a broader audience. Sometimes originality isn't apparent at face value. What seems like an arena shooter with retro stylings happens to become a whole sprawling world full of adventure and danger. You can find out for yourself just what makes Ghostware so unique that it found its way to our hearts. We'e not sure of the release date yet with this one, but we do highly encourage you to wishlist it and take the available demo for a spin.
And that's that. We'll be happy to hear your thoughts on our Hyperstrange Discord, steam forums, and clay tablets. Thank you for being a part of the Hyperstrange crowd, and Stay Metal!
Your's truly,
POSTAL: Brain Damaged - Connoisseur Edition (OST & Art Book bundle!) + upcoming updates!
Hyperstrange friends, RWS fam!
Hyperstrange-developed POSTAL: Brain Damaged, the action-packed DOOM Eternal-like spin-off of the POSTAL series is finally here, and if you own any of the eligible RWS or Hyperstrange titles, or some other staple throwback-shooters like DUSK, Hedon, or Nightmare Reaper, you can get PBD with an additional discount added on top of -20% release discount via one of the special bundle deals.
Plus, we're happy to report it really SLAPS! With more than 1100 reviews it currently enjoys an 'Overwhelmingly Positive' rating, with more than 95% players recommending the game.
Yes, Hyperstrange really pulled this one off. The game is good and the release has been relatively bug-free despite the 2-week delay made explicitly to implement some bugs and stay on-brand. But it wouldn't be a POSTAL release if something haven't gone wrong. Many of you were waiting for the release of the POSTAL: Brain Damaged Official Soundtrack. The wait is finally over! The OST has arrived, and you can get it separately or bundled with the official Art Book in the POSTAL: Brain Damaged - Connoisseur Edition.
UPCOMING UPDATES
The Hyperstrange Dev team is very grateful for the amazing reception of PBD. This gives them even more motivation to improve and expand the game post-release. Here's what to expect soon:
Post-release fix - an update taking care of the known issues reported by the players, that slipped into the full release (ETA: One week)
Balancing update - some players, as well as some internet micro-celebrities, have brought to our attention that the game offers way to much ammo if you explore the levels 'Quake-style', and far too little if you prefer to push on 'Doom Eternal-style'. The update will take care of that issue, allowing everyone to enjoy the game in their preferred playstyle. The update will also reconfigure some of the enemy positioning, spawns, and behavior. (ETA: One month)
New playmodes - With that taken care of, the dev team will proceed to expanding the game itself, introducing an oft-requested horde mode, as well as another playmode offering a new, and replayable PBD experience. (ETA: This summer)
More to be announced!
Hyperstrange and RWS are both extremely pleased with the reception of POSTAL: Brain Damaged. We're as excited as you are, to see what the future will bring to this explosive and twisted spin-off.
Your true friends and family,
Hyperstrange & RWS
Blood West - our immersive stealth shooter is live on Steam. Special offer for ELDERBORN owners!
Hyperstrange friends!
We're proud to present our second full-scaled original title, Blood West, an immersive stealth shooter inspired by such classics as S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Thief, System Shock, Deus Ex, or Blood, but also hugely influenced by Crytek's excellent online title - Hunt: Showdown, while being a strictly single-player experience itself. There's a lot of ways to describe it, but it is best that you see for yourself - here's a chunky, 25-minute developer-gameplay, going through one of the first quests and showcasing some basic, and more advanced mechanics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO6UmF0-9FU
To sum up the Blood West experience in a few bulletpoints:
Blood West is not a non-stop action-focused velocity shooter. It's best taken slow, and thoughtfully, with sneaking, surveying the surroundings, planning your attacks, and going head-first into combat only when you're sure you're at an advantage.
Combat mechanics in Blood West are more complex than you might expect. Enemies have weak spots (usually the head), and can take a lot of damage before dying, unless you use their vulnerabilities.
Weapons have different stats, and usually guns that you loot from the enemies or find discarded somewhere, are old and rusty, and won't perform great. There are also different types of ammo, and some are more effective against certain enemy types than the others.
Your character - the Revenant Gunslinger - gains experience, and levels up. When that happens, you get some skill points to distribute unlocking very useful perks in the character screen. Different perk+weapon combinations allow for very different approaches to the game. Try different playstyles!
We hope you'll enjoy our newest game, a true labor of love.
Special offer for ELDERBORN players
The Hyperstrange Originals Bundle is our way to once again say thank you to all the Steam players who purchased the Hyperstrange debut title, ELDERBORN. It put us on the map and allowed us to grow, following our ambitions as a indie dev studio. Blood West is one of the effects of this pursuit. We'd like to offer all of our past supporters to check it out with a special 20% discount, that stacks with any other active discounts that may be in place.
Keep on rockin!
Thank you for an amazing Steam Next Fest 2021, folks! We're keeping all the demos for you to play longer!
As Steam Next Fest draws to a conclusion we want to thank everyone for stopping by and trying out our demos. We've had tens of thousands people playing the featured games, hundreds joining our community Discord to offer feedback, and posting on social media!
Many of you have been asking "will I be able to keep playing the demo after Next Fest ends"? Steam suggests all Next Fest demos should be timed, to create a sense of urgency and make sure the players wishlist the game. But this is simply not the Hyperstrange way. We're old enough (well, some of us) to remember shareware times, when demos came on floppies and lasted forever (well, some of them). Cutting to the chase: the demos stay, at least until their respective games get released. Here's what you can play, in case you missed some of them:
RAYZE
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RAYZE is a genre-defying hyper-paced music-filled first-person AIM RACER. Hit a target to accelerate. Miss and you slow down. Hit a wall and die. Find the fastest route. Get to the finish line. Simple? Yes. Easy? Hell no. Who said training to be your own aim-bot can't be fun? Welcome to your new casually hardcore obsession!
The DEMO consists of the entire first sector of the game, that's 5 tracks for you to figure out and master, one bite-size FPS speedrun at a time. Achievements to unlock, global leaderboards to compete with friends and strangers... Just two more weeks until full release! Ready? 3... 2... 1... Let's RAYZE!
Blood West
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BLOOD WEST, an immersive Wild West FPS where a revenant desperado takes on the twisted demons and eldritch horros in a cursed, desolate mining town. Hell is empty and all the devils are here! Plan your steps, be stealthy, gain advantage, manage your resources, and paint the world dark red! Blood West was the second most-played Hyperstrange demo in Steam Fest, and there's already many players telling us they cannot wait for the release, despite the game being brutally hard! If you missed the DEMO, you can still try, and if you like the experience of being the Revenant desperado, please remember to add the game to your wishlist!
Supplice
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Supplice is a stylish throwback shooter that made a lot of people happy during the Steam Next Fest. inspired by the mid-90s FPS glory days and the legendary Doom modding community. Mixing the retro stylings of 90s era shooters with colorful graphics and frantic gameplay, it creates an experience that's ever so familiar but also exciting and fresh. The team behind the game is a real hot pot of Doom modding and FPS development legends, starting from Brett 'Mechadon' Harrell, the project founder, through Aleksander 'Cage' Kowalczyk, the lead artist also known for his work with Ion Fury, to James 'Jimmy' Paddock, the lead composer, known from his midi soundtracks to Sigil, Prodeus, and many other talents. Please check out the DEMO and follow & add the game to your wishlist if you want to stay up to date with its development.
Skullstone
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Skullstone is a true to its form dungeon crawler with grid-based movement, real-time tactics combat, and first-person view. Lead a party of adventurers into the under-realm, looking for glory, gold, and a solution to the ancient evil plaguing the town above. A real stand-out in the FPS action-focused Hyperstrange catalog - why not give it some appreciation by playing the DEMO and wishlisting this pure-blooded classic RPG.
POSTAL: Brain Damaged
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Last, but in no way the least in our Steam Next Fest lineup, POSTAL: Brain Damaged dominated the First-Person Shooter category, reaping the most wishlists and getting over 20 000 demo downloads. If by some strange twist of fate you're here but you don't know what is POSTAL: Brain Damaged... it's a spin-off of the Running With Scissors cult series, firmly rooted in the POSTALVERSE, but taking more gameplay cues from modern shooters such as the latest DOOM, than the fan-acclaimed POSTAL 4, the latest entry in the main series. This time around the story follows POSTAL DUDE on a journey through the dark and bizarre landscape of his own mind, which gives the developer a chance to explore new depths of weirdness, madness, and gore. The gloves are off! See for yourself - play the DEMO and make sure to hit that wishlist button hard! (Please note that as we focus on developing the game, we won't be able to update the demo, so it will reflect the state of development in September 2021, even if you play it in May 2022, when the game is getting released. Expect improvements and changes!)
As we wrap-up the event, we feel immensely grateful to the wonderful Steam player community who show us so much appreciation. Please keep your feedback coming - if you have any to offer, please join our community Discord. We strive to make your live stranger and filled to the brim with good old action, and it's such a rush to see that you enjoy what we bring to your screens. That is it for today, be excellent to each other!
Yours truly,
Hyperstrange showcase at Realms Deep 2021
Hyperstrange was one of the most notable studios/publishers at Realms Deep 2021. True to our roots, we treat the "boomer-shooter con" as our main event of the season. Yes, with the amazing help and support we've received from the organizers (3D Realms, New Bloods, and others), Realms Deep is our E3 this year. And it wouldn't be a E3-styled event if we didn't announce a whole lot of stuff. Did you miss it? Here's what went down!
New Hyperstrange studio games announced
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BLOOD WEST, an immersive Wild West FPS where a revenant desperado takes on the twisted demons and eldritch horros in a cursed, desolate mining town. Hell is empty and all the devils are here! Plan your steps, be stealthy, gain advantage, manage your resources, and paint the world dark red! Wild West FPS games are few and far apart, so if you enjoy this setting and gameplay type, please support Blood West by adding it to your wishlist!
[previewyoutube="LuBb3QXrNlY;full"]
RAYZE is a genre-defying hyper-paced music-filled first-person skillrunner. Godlike FPS precision & superhuman reflexes are welcome, but not required. Welcome to your new casually hardcore obsession. Adrenaline rushing, dopamine pumping, electronic pulse beating! 3.. 2.. 1.. Let's RAYZE! If you like a challenge, please consider adding the game to your wishlist, but you can also check it out right now, as there's a DEMO available!
New Hyperstrange publishing projects revealed
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Supplice is a stylish throwback shooter inspired by the mid-90s FPS glory days and the legendary Doom modding community. Mixing the retro stylings of 90s era shooters with colorful graphics and frantic gameplay, it creates an experience that's ever so familiar but also exciting and fresh. The team behind the game is a real hot pot of Doom modding and FPS development legends, starting from Brett 'Mechadon' Harrell, the project founder, through Aleksander 'Cage' Kowalczyk, the lead artist also known for his work with Ion Fury, to James 'Jimmy' Paddock, the lead composer, known from his midi soundtracks to Sigil, Prodeus, and many other talents. Please add the game to your wishlist if you want to stay up to date with its development.
[previewyoutube="ias1aZwsHRU;full"]
Skullstone is a true to its form dungeon crawler with grid-based movement, real-time tactics combat, and first-person view. Lead a party of adventurers into the under-realm, looking for glory, gold, and a solution to the ancient evil plaguing the town above. Well, adventurer? Get crawling! Or, actually, let's start by wishlisting Skullstone, so you don't miss the demo that's heading to the October Steam Next Fest.
New HOT release
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Jupiter Hell is a turn-based shooter from the depths of cosmic hell, built on a classic roguelike framework updated with modern 3d graphics. Rip and tear zombies, demons, and heavy metal monstrosities with chainguns and chainsaws. Like chess... with shotguns! This spiritual successor to Doom Roguelike launched in full on August 5 to both player and media acclaim. “A Turn-Based Triumph - Jupiter Hell is an engaging and commendable recreation of DOOM's style in turn-based roguelike form that will please just about everyone.” writes Screen Rant, giving the game 4,5/5 stars, while Kotaku calls it "an absolute gem".
New gameplay reveal
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POSTAL: Brain Damaged is our flagship in-development title that we create as an original IP based off the infamous POSTAL series, under the watchful eye of MikeJ, Vince Desi, and the rest of the Running With Scissors crew. First announced at Realms Deep 2020 in early pre-alpha stage, it quick became somewhat of an obsession with the POSTAL community, and there's a lot of people who have been asking, no, demanding to see some final-quality gameplay footage. That's exactly what we delivered at Realms Deep 2021... plus something extra. If you are a POSTAL fan or a general boomer-shooter enjoyer, please add Brain Damaged to your wishlist and follow the project, so you don't miss the chance to play the Demo that will be featured on Steam Next Fest this October!
Notable milestones
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While Frozenheim, our serene Norse city builder with RTS combat, didn't make the cut for the already lengthy stream, there's an announcement that we're stoked to make. Today marks the 100 000 Steam purchases milestone for Frozenheim. That's one hundred thousand Vikings in our Frozen North! This is the second game in our catalog to reach the 100k player tier, following our debut title, ELDERBORN, which - as per our Realms Deep announcement is coming soon to Xbox (alongside our bite-size FPS, CROSSBOW: Bloodnight)
All this is a huge step for Hyperstrange (or a whole marathon, actually), as a small indie studio with just one game published a year ago, to a... slightly larger indie studio that's becoming a hub of game development and publishing. If you're reading this - please know, that you have our utmost gratitude - we couldn't have done any of this without the tremendous support our games are receiving from the Steam community! That is it for today, be excellent to each other!
