Wales Interactive call it a “spiritual successor”, where up to four players can team up to survive against what looks like hordes of Quiet Ones (zombie-like folks introduced in Maid Of Sker). Sker Ritual is set to release in spring 2022 on Steam, as well as PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. That’s about all the info Wales Interactive have provided at the moment, but I have so many more questions. Did they plan on going in this direction all along? Was the switch to co-op horror inspired by the likes of Phasmophobia? Did they realise that Maid Of Sker was a bit average and wham guns in to liven things up? I must know. In her Maid Of Sker review, Alice Bell enjoyed the atmosphere and scenery, but thought it was a little lacklustre overall. She felt like it had borrowed the wrong parts of other horrors. “This isn’t a game made for jump scare compilations on YouTube, nor is it suffused with a creeping, lingering dread,” she wrote. “Instead, it lands somewhere in between the weird keys and puzzles of Resident Evil, and the quiet, existential dread of something more like Soma, resulting in a lot of waiting around.” I would imagine there’d be less waiting around in a shooter, so perhaps the new style will suit old Sker. I really enjoy co-op horror stuff, so I’m quite looking forward to seeing what they have in store.
