Forgive Me Father is a hand-drawn old-school FPS with freaky Lovecraft vibes

It’s a mad world

Would you rather be a priest or a journalist? I feel like you probably already have a begrudging answer lined up, but before you lock it in, we’re looking at this question through the lens of a Lovecraftian nightmare in the upcoming FPS Forgive Me Father.

You can play either role in the game, and you know what? I’m clutching that cross.

Over the weekend, Forgive Me Father popped up on Steam with an announcement trailer and some extended pre-alpha footage from 1C Entertainment and developer Byte Barrel.

I know we’re not exactly hurting for retro-style shooters these days, but I liked the comic-book aesthetic enough to want to look into it further, and even though Lovecraft is a common source of inspiration for video games, on some level, I’m just inherently in for freaky-faced creatures and vague threats about “madness.” It’s a trope I can’t turn down.

Similarly, gameplay-wise, Forgive Me Father isn’t the freshest — expect conveniently placed explosive barrels, item pickups like health packs and keys, and hordes of shambling wretches that are fodder for your thunderous shotgun. The trailer sold me more than the gameplay preview, which seems pretty straightforward in that “early-game area” way.

That said, the gifs on the Steam page are wild — especially that sentient, slithering blade projectile that’s latched onto the player’s hand. I’m curious to see what kind of upgrades the priest and the journalist can unlock, and how their playstyles might differ depending on which “active skills” you go with. Not much has been shown on that front yet.

The plan is to launch Forgive Me Father in Q1 2022 on Steam, though that could change depending on how players take to the Early Access version rolling out October 28, 2021.