New Game 'The Axis Unseen' Mixes Hunting, Heavy Metal And Horror

Have you ever thought to yourself that are a dearth of heavy metal hunting games set in hauntingly gorgeous fantasy forests? Fret no longer, my friend, for The Axis Unseen is in development in Unreal Engine 5 and ticks every single box.

Nate Purkeypile is a former Bethesda Softworks developer who was the world artist on Fallout 3, Fallout 4, lead artist on Fallout 76 and has credits on Starfield, Skyrim, Metroid Prime 3 and more. With his new project, Just Purkey Games, he has announced The Axis Unseen and it defies categorisation. Visually, the strange world is impressive, with cold colour palettes and stark lines of woodland and exposed sandstone as flecks of light follow in the air. The player is hunting creatures that look like they've been carved by a woodworker yet bleed when struck by one of the hunter's arrows. Tracking the trail of blood and prints in the dirt, the character shoots and kills the deer-like animal and it falls to the ground, shattering into droplets of light.

Check out the announcement trailer for The Axis Unseen here - you could cut the atmosphere with a knife!

Taiga is the artist behind that epic arrangement that accompanies the journey that the hunter takes over the course of the trailer, and the 2D artwork was supplied by Overshia. It looks like the player will emerge from their base every day to hunt these animals, either for sustenance or for protection, and discover more and more about their surroundings. The rudimentary bow and arrow are upgradeable and the character can continually check the number of arrows they have left to hunt or attack with. Arrows are found in the midst of ruins though and I'll bet my bottom dollar that players will be tempted to explore deeper and deeper into this world and run the risk of encountering a beast with a bad temper.

At the moment, the game is being developed inside Unreal Engine 5 for PC, however, there is still a possibility that The Axis Unseen could come to consoles if there is enough interest in the project. I mean, it's certainly piqued our curiosity.

Topics: PC, Unreal Engine