Descent of Man
Descent of Man is a stealth, survival horror game. Experience fear, a historically inspired narrative, and puzzle solving while hunted by intelligent and nightmarish enemies. Use deception to escape and unravel the dark history of a dystopian world's past and it's horrifying present.
All Reviews:
Mixed (18) - 50% of the 18 user reviews for this game are positive.
Release Date:
Oct 22, 2020
Developer:
Publisher:

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Early Access Game

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Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“The game is still under development but is far enough along and we are seeking feedback from stealth and survival horror fans.”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We anticipate the game being in EA as long as necessary to finish the project. We are expecting at least 1 year of EA.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“The EA version is the first chapter of three chapters in the game and is intended to introduce the player to the world. The first chapter is intentionally slower paced than what we plan for the remaining two chapters. The full version will feature at least two new chapters, new gadgets, new monster types, boss fights, and more combat to fight the monsters.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“Several of the core gameplay mechanics are in place (e.g. stealth, puzzles, AI behaviors). This first portion of the game lays the stage for the rest of the game. This is Chapter 1 of three. This first chapter introduces you to the world and the lore. There might be a few bugs we need your help in finding so we can fix them. Overall the EA version has a strong narrative and voice acting.”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“The current EA version is being made available free. We do plan to charge for the final product. The price point will be reasonable and within the realm of most indie games on Steam.”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“We have a Discord page and we hope folks will join us there for lively conversation. We also take reviews and youtube videos serious. As we see feedback coming in we will add it to our backlog of fixes and features.”
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About the Team

We are a small indie team (moonlighters) of friends. We started off making education games with the OGRE3D engine back in 2005 (college days) and pursued NSF grants - it didn't work out. After college, we continued to live our lives dispersed across the U.S., celebrated marriages, changed careers and grew our families - along the way we picked up the Unity3D game engine. Our moonlighting finally led us to create Descent of Man.

Fun Facts

The idea for Descent of Man started back in 2014. We wanted to create a game where the enemies hunted the player. Our inspiration was the short story "The Most Dangerous Game". The original concept was actually designed to take place on an island - as you can tell some things have changed...okay a lot changed.

  • The guards use Bayesian Inference (its worth a google) to decide where to look for the player. As the player interacts with the environment, the enemies will see the changes and use the information to search for the player.
  • The enemies will fight each other if they encounter enemies of a different type - the player can force these encounters.
  • We really are a horror game that uses STEALTH as a real mechanic. You have a detection meter and everything.
  • The guards can see your flashlight, so watch where you shine that thing
  • We have some pretty cool puzzles
  • The story is historically inspired by the American eugenics movement from the 1900s. Google some of the names of the characters in our game, you might learn something bizarre!
  • Not a walking simulator

About This Game

Story

You play as Jarrett Reed, a member of a small post-apocalyptic community in a world devastated by disease. Alone and unafraid, Reed is a first class scavenger. Reed breaks off the normal scavenging paths used by his community for decades in search of a rumored utopia - a city with running power and a thriving populace. Finding the city, Reed enters seeking to find everything his community needs and more to survive. What he doesn't expect, is the darkness lurking within. Reed will encounter a variety of enemy types each with their own strengths and weaknesses that you must help him overcome. As you manipulate the environment and use gadgets against the enemies, you will need to search for supplies and equipment to escape. Along the way you will be thrown into life and death encounters with dangerous enemies while having to solve puzzles to reveal the path to freedom.

Gameplay Overview

  • Use stealth and gadgets to evade intelligent and nightmarish enemies as you scavenge for supplies and escape the insanity of a mad scientist
  • Intelligent AI that can see and hear everything in the environment - use this to your advantage to deceive the enemies and lure them away from your position
  • Trick enemies into combating one another - leaving you to deal with whoever survives
  • Use limited melee weapons to take down enemies
  • Solve survival horror puzzles inspired by games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill
  • A narrative fully realized with a highly detailed world to include: radio and television broadcasts, voice acting, and detailed environments
  • Boss fights

In summary, the main features of the game are satisfying stealth maneuvers to evade enemies, numerous gadgets and weapons to neutralize and deceive enemies as you scavenge for supplies, a variety of enemy types and encounters, a world rich in nightmarish lore that is historically inspired by the American Eugenics movement in the 1900s.

  • Sneak to Survive
    As you make your escape you will need to deceive, evade, or take-down intelligent and nightmarish enemies. You have limited melee options so plan your attacks carefully. Escape or live to regret it.


  • Deceive Enemies
    Use the environment to mislead the enemies lurking in the darkness. Use noisemakers, turn on radios, leave doors and windows open to lure enemies away from your path of travel. While they are busy searching suspicious sounds or changes in the environment you can sneak past them.


  • Solve Eerie Puzzles
    To escape you will use your wit to uncover clues, gather items, and solve puzzles that will propel you into enemy encounters and guide you through the madness.

Inspired By:

  • Resident Evil
  • Outlast
  • Thief

Mature Content Description

The developers describe the content like this:

Contains violence, blood and gore.

System Requirements

    Minimum:
    • OS *: Windows 7 / 8 / 10, 64-bits
    • Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-4460, 2.70GHz or AMD FX™-6300 or better
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB VRAM
    • DirectX: Version 11
    • Storage: 5 GB available space
    • Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
    • Additional Notes: Targetting 720p @ 30 fps
    Recommended:
    • OS *: Windows 7 / 8 / 10, 64-bits
    • Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 3770 3.4GHz or AMD equivalent or better
    • Memory: 8 GB RAM
    • Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 with 8GB VRAM or higher
    • DirectX: Version 12
    • Storage: 5 GB available space
    • Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
    • Additional Notes: Targetting 1080p @ 60 fps
* Starting January 1st, 2024, the Steam Client will only support Windows 10 and later versions.

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