Slow-burning sci-fi adventure HEVN gets September release date

It follows a year of tinkering with the story, pacing and mechanics.



Joe enjoyed the two-hour demo he played of HEVN, a slow-paced sci-fi game about exploring the faraway planet of Naic, comparing it to both Soma and Event[0]. That was more than a year ago, just before its release was delayed indefinitely. Developer Miga has spent the past 12 months fiddling with "the game's mechanics, story, balancing and pacing, as well as the overall look and feel", and has now slapped a new release date on it: September 7.

Miga also released a new trailer, which you can see above, to show how far the game has come. HEVN's inspirations—Deus Ex and System Shock—are there for all to see: this is unabashedly old-school, both in its looks and its mechanics, with plenty of clunky terminals and security keypads to crack into. The aesthetic will put some people off, but there's enough variety in the environments to keep me interested.

What really caught Joe's fancy was the story—he finished the two-hour demo eager to find out what happened next to protagonist Sebastian Mar, who set out for Naic as part of a dangerous mining mission to gather resources that the Earth needed to survive. The demo, which is no longer available, started with Mar going about his normal routine at his mining company, Nomoni Incorporated, before revealing that one of his colleagues hasn't clocked in for the past three days.

It really opens up from there, judging by Joe's playthrough, and doesn't hold the player's hand, encouraging exploration. The Steam page is here if you fancy a look—Miga hasn't yet announced a price.

You can also view a cache of 25 new screenshots here.