WayForward has announced their new title Goosebumps: The Game will be released on both PlayStation 4 and PS3 next week on October 13th. It will serve as a prequel story to the upcoming film, which hits theaters on October 16th.
In a rather lenghty post on the PlayStation Blog, WayForward Director Tom Hulett explained the studio isn't merely trying to capitalize on brand name; they are looking to capture that authentic Goosebumps flair.
" I couldn’t sleep if the game felt like anything less than an authentic Goosebumps product with all the hallmarks that entails. It also helped that we were able to visit Sony Pictures to screen the film early on to provide inspiration and insight into the direction of the movie to help set up the prequel story," Hulett explained.
"We looked for other recurring themes in the books, finding things like big creepy houses, parents who seemed oblivious to what was going on, older siblings, outsmarting adults, distrust of strangers, etc. These helped shape our decisions regarding game flow and the areas you would visit."
Goosebumps: The Game will exist as a first-person, point-and-click adventure, which Hulett said is the same style of one of the very first games he found scary — Shadowgate. "Despite it not being billed as a horror game, Shadowgate was one of the very first games I found scary. There was a thick atmosphere about its world, and things like your torch running out and the way the music transitioned left an impression," Hulett wrote.
Goosebumps: The Game will incorporate a "good mix" of creatures from the film, along with monsters from the books that didn't quite make it to the big screen; however, Hulett was sure to emphasize that the game isn't simply a retread of the film. "We really tried to make the game feel like its own standalone story," he said, "way Goosebumps fans can enjoy both of them individually."
As for the story, well, the game benefits by being a point-and-click adventure, as the genre is typically very text heavy. "By its very nature, the game felt like an authentic Goosebumps experience because they’re both all about reading, and allowing the reader/player’s mind to fill in the blanks left by a carefully worded description," Hulett said. "This way their own nightmares get cast over the game, and they’re hooked!"
In all, Goosebumps: The Game is comprised of over 50,000 words of in-game text (equivalent to two entire Goosebumps novels). There are over 20 beasties and 60 different roomes to explore.
Goosebumps: The Game was officially announced on the PlayStation Blog, but earlier rumors had it listed for Xbox as well.
