What is Downfall, you ask? The post-apocalyptic screens you see below are apparently from a survival horror game once in development at Crystal Dynamics, the studio behind Tomb Raider.

Downfall first popped up online a few months ago, with several former staffers at Crystal Dynamics outing the canceled game on their resumes. The game was apparently an open-world third-person survival horror experience, set in a destroyed San Francisco, and featured various creatures and enemies similar to and not out of place in Tomb Raider; it was alleged at one point due to crossed wires that Downfall may have been the upcoming Tomb Raider 9 origin story/reboot. It was a separate project.

Some of the concept art and design documents that have leaked reveal that Downfall featured extensive underground gameplay, in and around subway stations, as well as cavernous spaces teeming with horrific obstacles. Certainly appeared to be a decent effort. The game was sadly canceled for unknown reasons though, and now the entire studio has been solely at work on Tomb Raider 9 for a few months.

Some work-in-progress screenshots were discovered this week on the website of a former senior material and lighting artist, who uploaded them to their gallery. Looks…post-apocalyptic. And brown. A bit of everything the industry has been trying to get away from for the past couple of years. But the detail is definitely there. It’s a shame we’ll never get to see what could have come to fruition here. Open-world survival horror is an angle that needs some more exploration.


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