Utopia Games released the demo for the first entry in their upcoming sci-fi, mystic-horror game called Utopia Syndrome. The project is part of a multi-part series of short adventure stories themed around various types of horror scenarios.

The first project is called Wake Up, and the demo is currently available to download for free over on the Steam store page.

At the moment, the release date is still to be determined, but it’s set to arrive soon for PC gamers.

The game was made on a no-nothing budget by passionate artists looking to bring a visually gripping tale to life. You can tell that artists were in charge of developing the game because there’s a lot of expression, emotion, and focus on the visual atmosphere of the world and characters to help elicit a sense of immersion.

You can get a grasp of what I’m talking about with the trailer for Utopia Syndrome: Wake Up below.

The Wake Up tale centers around a man wrapped in bandages and wearing a tattered jumpsuit who wakes up in an empty prison cell. He doesn’t remember much but there’s a letter informing him that evil stalks the corridors of the underground compound where people are attempting to survive.

Anhel decides to explore the compound, with gamers being able to interact with various objects or solve puzzles to open up new pathways for discovery.

The game is played both from a top-down isometric perspective and from a third-person over-the-shoulder perspective, allowing gamers to embrace the adventure-game aspects for the puzzles but also the horror-game aspects when things start to get intense.

I like what I see so far and hopefully the full game is as realized as the presentation of the demo in the trailer above. In some ways it reminds me a little bit of Neil Blomkamp’s short films themed around some rather cool horror concepts. I’m also getting some vibes of The Brotherhood’s Stasis.

As mentioned, you can grab the demo right now, for free, by visiting the Steam store page.

(Thanks for the news tip Harrison Bergeron)