New Behemoth Trailer, Pre-Orders, and Graphic Novel Announced

Skydance Games has released a new Behemoth trailer, formally announcing pre-orders and a November 14th release date. They've also stated that a graphic novel prequel, intended to outline the game's world and backstory in more detail, is in the works. The game, a VR actioner from the studio responsible for The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, will be available on Meta Quest, PlayStation VR2, and Steam VR. The new trailer showcases brutal combat, a barren, archaic setting, and the titular behemoths in all their massive, wrecking-ball-swinging glory.

New Trailer Offers New Clues

Photo byMaxim HopmanonUnsplash

The majority of the new Behemoth trailer revisits footage seen in the gameplay announcement and Redband trailers released earlier this year. Some new noteworthy additions include additional in-game shots of the Behemoths (there appear to be at least two of them), and a closer look at weapons, combat mechanics, environments, and characters.

Set in the ominously obscure Forsaken Lands, the players take the role of Wren, an exiled hunter. The aesthetic feels strongly like Skyrim, with the limitations of VR neatly masked by perpetually snow-shrouded vistas. The player character talks in voice-over about contending with some kind of curse, a malady that possibly grants superhuman strength, as the combat on display shows bodies and large objects easily torn asunder or flung through the air. The player also appears to have an infected arm (a la Princess Mononoke's Ashitaka), a condition likely related to the curse and one of the main drivers of the game's story.

The core of the gameplay is obviously combat, with gooey two-handed ragdoll-inducing slaughter reminiscent of Blade & Sorcery's medieval chaos. The voice-over directly addresses the carnage and mayhem that players should expect, with lines like "...thirst for death," and "heroes don't survive the Forsaken Lands, only monsters do." Grappling also looks integral to the experience, usable for toppling or tossing structural objects and enemy combatants, as well as traversal.

The gameplay trailer has done a surprisingly comprehensive job of living up to the promises made in the cinematic Behemoth trailer released a year ago. Grappling, vigorous swordplay, climbing, and a barren, snowy landscape have all carried over. The visual fidelity remains true in spirit to the cinematics, and while simplified in texture and depth for the platform's constraints, still has a rich, crispy edge to it that is likely to be at the forefront of VR capabilities.

Also making the translation are the Behemoths themselves, enormous lumbering grotesques that seem to be both worshiped and feared. The creatures harken vaguely to Shadow of the Colossus in both their size and the necessitated climbing of their bodies, but they establish an animalistic tenor that feels ancient, organic, and novel. The new Behemoth trailer also promises some pre-order rewards, in the form of an enhanced sword, bow, axe, and grappling hook.

Graphic Novel Prequel Announced

An accompanying graphic novel serving as a series prequel was also confirmed, with announcements on social media and an interview with creative leads on the project. The graphic supplement aims to enrich the history, characters, factions, and predicaments of the Forsaken Lands.

NY Times bestselling author Matt Forbeck (whose work spans novels, core rulebooks, D&D quests, comics, and more) was brought on early in the game's lifecycle to develop and write the book. His inclusion at the outset meant the contents of the graphic novel could evolve in synch with the game development, with both works informing the tone and details of the other. As Skydance Senior Vice President, Creative Shawn Kittelsen said in their exclusive interview with ScreenRant, "The same people that were writing the story for the game were the same people that were regularly in touch with Matt... All the consistency is there no matter how many changes we had, because we wanted it to be."

With art rendered by Daniele Serra in what's being described as a painterly style, the graphic novel is meant to exist almost as a piece of lore from the world, giving context to the experiences of the player character and the world they're entering at the game's start.

Tracking the New Title

Originally unveiled as Skydance's next VR project back in 2022, Behemoth represents the distillation of the developer's experience in creating a string of industry-leading VR titles. Their notable 2020 outing, The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, has become a standard-bearer for high-fidelity, immersive gameplay and physics-based combat. Nominated for VR Game of the Year, the game featured semi-open environments, crafting mechanics, and melee combat, all of which feature in the new Behemoth trailer.

As an original IP that's been years in the making, the game may be the start of a longer-running series if it gains traction with players. Skydance as a studio is helping to bring traditional gaming experiences and production models into VR, which has struggled as a platform to attract the same player numbers as console and PC gaming. Their latest game has been getting buzzed about since it was announced, and the latest Behemoth trailer seems to deliver on the studio's promises.

It's notable that the title will be released not only for Meta's Quest headsets but also for PS VR2, which has been popular with tech-forward users but has not sold as well as the Quest 2. As with any VR title, the best graphical experience will come from tethered play, but the freedom offered by the Quest is oftentimes a serviceable tradeoff. And with the two-handed arm swinging required to slash your way through the Forsaken Lands, untethered may be more attractive to players.

The Skydance Ecosystem

Skydance Games' parent company, Skydance Media, is also a major player in film production, with successful pictures like True Grit, Mission Impossible: Fallout, and Top Gun: Maverick under its belt. Amidst recent talks to acquire Paramount Global, the company is poised to be a juggernaut of mainstream media. Having already executed several VR cross-over experiences derived from its film projects, it's not unlikely that they would consider moving the other way with a successful interactive-first product.

Borderlands notwithstanding, video game adaptations have been having a renaissance moment, and Behemoth is already crossing into other mediums. The possibility of a multi-media franchise being born of a successful title would be a unique evolution for both the company and the property. If the new Behemoth trailer and graphic novel announcement are any indication, players should expect a unique and diversified experience.

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The article was originally written by Richard Swanson