Rats. I hate them. Disgusting creatures, carriers of various diseases, they are partly responsible for the Black Death, a plague upon Europe that is estimated to have killed 100-125 million people worldwide. I have longed to play a game where you can kill these vermin by the hordes, and if a game like that is ever released, I would be one of the customers who’d be the first to download it.
Rat-killing fans can hope to find something to like in the upcoming game A Plague Tale: Innocence though, even if you don’t outright kill the little pests. The game was first announced during E3 2017, and it piqued some interest due to its certainly unique setting; finally, a video game set within the first phase of the Hundred Years’ War and subsequent outbreak of the bubonic plague, more commonly known as Black Death.
A Plague Tale: Innocence released its first gameplay video last week, and it featured rats – in spades. They also make these terrible noises like they want to chew you to pieces, and it drowns out nearly everything else in the game. While some may feel uneasiness, or even nausea, I felt nothing but an urge to purge them all in righteous fire – although I think that won’t be a feature in the game. Regardless, the trailer did show off some of the game mechanics for A Plague Tale: Innocence, as well as establishing the oppressive atmosphere of the setting known for killing a significant population of Europe.
You play A Plague Tale: Innocence as Amicia, one of two siblings who are looking to survive the plague and its two components: the millions of rabid rats scouring for flesh to devour, as well as the Inquisition, which seems to be controlling the surviving populace through tyrannical means. All throughout the gameplay video, it is shown that you will be traversing primarily by stealth, using distractions to lure the Inquisition guards away, while using fire and light to scatter rats away, hundreds of them literally at your feet at any given time. The game features some neat crafting mechanics, as well as a means of killing other Inquisition guards by robbing them of their light – making for some grisly kills in which these guards are devoured alive by the starving rats.
A Plague Tale: Innocence is set to be released this May 14 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
