What to Know About Maid of Sker?
An upcoming first-person survival horror game, Maid of Sker, is scheduled for June 2020 release. Developed and to be published by Wales Interactive, the game will be available on Microsoft Windows, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
Plot and setting
Maid of Sker is a horror video game that is set in 1898 in a creepy, remote hotel known as Sker House. The plot of the game is based on Welsh folklore that tells the terrifying tale of Elisabeth Williams, a girl who was locked up in her room in Sker House by her father. She is said to be one of the two ghosts that still haunt the infamous hotel to this day.
The tale that has inspired the game is about a family that has built its empire through slavery, piracy, and torture, and the gory history doesn’t end there. The grounds of the Sker House is haunted by a supernatural mystery that emanates every nook and cranny of the large, gloomy, and desolate building.
Sker House is an actual building that still stands in the Welsh countryside, and is the subject around which terrifying tales of supernatural horror and downright gore have been woven over the years. It is said to be one of the most haunted sites in Britain.
Maid of Sker is also inspired by a novel of the same name written by R.D. Blackmore in the 19th century, apart from the original Welsh ballad known as Y Ferch o’r Sger. However, the game takes the popular folklore and tells the story in a much more sinister manner to give you a truly petrifying experience.
Gameplay
Maid of Sker is a first-person game where you play the character of Thomas Evans, a musician who has been forced into a haunting and spine-chilling battle, all in an attempt to save the life of the woman he loves. Although Maid of Sker is a horror survival game, it also dives deeply into other themes, such as family and forbidden love.
The gameplay is centered around a 3D sound-based AI system, and you don’t have any weapons at your disposal to help you survive. Rather, you will have to master several moves such as run, creep, hide, trap, and distract if you want to survive your terrifying enemies with super hearing abilities who are chasing you around the haunted Sker House. These creatures are referred to as The Quiet Ones.
As you dive deeper into the game, survival becomes more difficult because avoiding your enemies becomes much more of a challenge. At some point, your only chance of survival will be to stand absolutely still and hold your breath without fail because there simply won’t be any other option if you want to make it out alive.
Here, timing is extremely important. If you don’t time your moves (or lack thereof) accurately, the Quiet Ones will get to you before you know it. And if you run out of breath, let’s just say that you don’t want to know the consequences.
An interesting element of the Maid of Sker is that the decisions you make throughout the game affect how your story ends. Your narrative and the story paths you unlock are dependent on the decisions you make, which means there are multiple endings to the story. This adds to the intensity of the game; knowing that you have to make such impactful decisions amidst a creepy, suspense-filled atmosphere of the haunted hotel puts you more on edge than ever before.
Braving the nightmares of Sker House takes more than just grit and determination. You need to be able to master the skills you need to survive. And although these may sound simple – not breathing, standing still, hiding, and so on – the super hearing abilities of your enemies make them extremely challenging.
Maid of Sker is written by the geniuses behind successful games like Soma, Don’t Knock Twice, and Battlefield 1, so you can be confident that it will be a story that pulls you in. By blending different elements of Gothic and psychological horror, along with the British folklore it is based on, Maid of Sker offers a highly immersive adventure horror game that is driven by a compelling story and unique gameplay. Besides, the realistic 4K visuals add to the experience, making it that much easier to sit at the edge of your seat for hours and brave the horrifying world of Sker House and all the terror it has to offer.
