There are few games I enjoy watching the development of as much as Gloomwood. Not only because New Blood Interactive’s Thief-inspired immersive sim is one of my most anticipated games, but also because the developers keep adding wonderful little extras that I never would have expected. The most recently announced addition is a wonderful example, with New Blood revealing that Gloomwood is getting cutscenes.
“I said we had a bigger thing to show this week,” Gloomwood creator Dillon Rogers said excitedly on Twitter. “Gloomwood is getting shortform cinematics before major areas/encounters, done in an early 1900s animated horror style.” The tweet included a video showing off one of said cutscenes, which introduces the “fishdog” enemy that appears a couple of hours into the game.
The cutscene epitomises the entire Gloomwood project. The animation and camera work is highly reminiscent of the briefing cutscenes in the first two Thief games. At the same time, it undeniably has its own style, designed to fit Gloomwood’s Victorian gothic aesthetic. It nods respectfully to the game that inspired Gloomwood, but isn’t beholden to it, which is Gloomwood in a nutshell.
I said we had a bigger thing to show this week!Gloomwood is getting shortform cinematics before major areas/encounters, done in an early 1900s animated horror style.#gloomwood #screenshotsaturday pic.twitter.com/dEelicaL4RAugust 24, 2024
As I said earlier, it’s also an unexpected addition to the game. Unlike Thief, Gloomwood’s adventure isn’t split into individual missions. It’s a continuous, open-ended experience. Indeed, some players have responded to Rogers’ tweet saying they preferred experiencing Gloomwood’s world seamlessly, without being interrupted by cutscenes. Others have raised concerns that such anticipatory cinematics might spoil Gloomwood’s nastier surprises.
Rogers responded patiently to both these comments. In fact, he anticipated the comment about Gloomwood somehow spoiling itself, explaining “The fishdog cinematic is pretty upfront, but later cinematics may only show the shadow/shape of the upcoming beasts or how they sound!” As for players who prefer Gloomwood’s experience to be wholly immersive, Rogers said “We’ll likely put an option in to avoid playing [cutscenes] if so desired.”
This is far from the only feature New Blood has announced for Gloomwood this year. In February, the developers revealed that it had implemented new rat AI that made the game’s virtual rodents actively seek out cheese. In March, New Blood published a progress update on Gloomwood’s massive underport area, during which they revealed the game was getting a new weapon, a harpoon gun. Finally, June saw the release of the first part of the Underport. Named the Power Station, New Blood says this area is already bigger than the Market District released last year.
There’s no word on when Gloomwood will be finished, although it seems like a final release is still a long way off. Given how complex immersive sims are to make, and how dedicated New Blood is to making its take on the genre great, I’m more than happy to let Rogers & co cook. And while I don’t think we’ll see the final version of Gloomwood any time soon, I likewise doubt this is the last we’ll hear from the good Doctor in 2024.