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Greetings Lampbearer. Next Friday, October 13, sees the launch of Lords of the Fallen, our debut game here at Hexworks, and we hope you have a fantastic time in the epic and terrifying world we’ve spent the last three years carefully and dutifully crafting. Lords of the Fallen is the first action-RPG to be developed using Unreal Engine 5 and, when combined with the power of PlayStation 5 and the unique features of the DualSense controller, delivers an immersive experience like no other.
Lords of the Fallen is a tantalizing dark fantasy set in the devastated land of Mournstead, and takes place a millennium after the demon god Adyr was exorcised from the world. But of course, evil can never truly die. Now, a spreading corruption heralds his horrific return and it’s up to players to take on the mantle of Dark Crusader, overcome Adyr’s minions, and banish him once more. To help them achieve that herculean task, they’ll harness the energy of a powerful and supernatural lamp, an item of ungodly power that allows players to traverse from Axion–the brutal realm of the living–to Umbral, the nightmarish realm of the dead, seamlessly and in real time.
On PlayStation 5, we knew we could deliver our vision of a seamless transition between two worlds thanks to the ultra-fast SSD, but we wanted to further enhance the rich and immersive experience for players using the unique features that DualSense brings. The DualSense wireless controller’s adaptive triggers provided us with an opportunity to make every group of weapons feel different, giving players visceral feedback through the setting of different levels of resistance in a trigger pull, enabling them to almost sense the weapon in their own hands. For instance, while light weapons and crossbows have a lower resistance attached to them, medium weapons and heavy weapons feel increasingly more substantial to use. Bows have an even higher resistance on the trigger, replicating the feeling of drawing back the string ahead of firing off an arrow towards the targeted horrors ahead.
For immersion’s sake, with the DualSense wireless controller, players who use heavy charged attacks will experience that charge at their fingertips; when most of the trigger is fully pulled back it’ll stop until the attack is ready to be fully unleashed. It’s only then that players will be able to pull the trigger back the rest of the way and execute the attack to devastating effect.
Haptic feedback is a crucial tool that allows players to feel every light and heavy attack. We’ve ensured players know exactly when their Dark Crusader takes a hit from enemies or through fall damage. They’ll also feel that transition from Axiom and to Umbral when they’re first killed, and experience the devastating resonance of bosses roaring. Always tightly gripped in the brooding protagonist’s right hand, the supernatural Umbral lamp will also cause the right side of the DualSense to gently rumble when in proximity to various hotspots across Mournstead.
Of course, it’s not just the feel of Lords of the Fallen that we’ve been able to create and enhance through the DualSense wireless controller… it’s an additional layer of sound, too. The perilous journey players face during the game is audible not only through the full 3D sound capabilities of the PS5, but also through the controller’s speaker, as every footstep taken by the Dark Crusader is heard. When players use a weapon to smite their foes–whether it’s one of the hundreds of melee or ranged weapons or many magic spells–their unique sounds pour from the controller’s speaker, too.
And finally, the DualSense wireless controller’s speaker is the vessel for sounds that emanate from the mysterious Umbral lamp itself. This otherworldly, supernatural relic, collected by the now-Dark-Crusader right at the start of the game, whispers to players as different events transpire: from approaching Umbral points of interest in the game world, to when the lamp is used to rip the very souls of enemies’ bodies using the Soul Flay mechanic, and more.
Together with the rich and compelling sound design of Lords of the Fallen, these audio details bring an additional layer of depth to the entire auditory experience, so the daunting tasks facing players as they traverse Axiom and Umbral never sound far away.
Lords of the Fallen is available to pre-order now and comes out October 13 on PlayStation 5.