ILL made reasonably the splash — or moderately, splatter — when the trailer delivered to Summer time Sport Fest 2025. We noticed a first-person horror recreation filled with guts, frenetic fight, and a few heinously gruesome creatures — and we beloved each and every annoying little element.
So what sort of twisted minds could make a recreation like ILL? Ones well-versed within the horror style. The builders at Group Clout have quite a few enjoy with horror, together with operating on a number of well known TV and movie tasks (e.g. Longlegs, V/H/S/Past, It: Welcome to Derry), they usually’re desperate to convey their logo of terror to a brand new medium. We requested Group Clout founders and unbelievable artists Maxim Verehin and Oleg Vdovenko to allow us to pick out their brains about ILL.
The original horror of ILL
As Verehin tells us, ILL is “A narrative-driven action-horror recreation with visceral visuals, ugly moments, fascinating inspiration, exploration, and wild concepts — a excellent mixture of survival horror parts and first-person three-D motion. We’re operating to stability the portions the place avid gamers are s***ting their pants from fright with portions the place avid gamers are screaming as a result of they’re playing the serious motion, capturing mechanics, and dismemberment.”
A lot of the main points across the recreation’s tale — which comes to a mysterious fortress in an Japanese Eu-like environment overrun via monstrosities — had been saved secret to this point. Whilst Verehin intends to stay it that method, he does percentage some data after we ask. “ILL’s focal point is at the private tale of the principle protagonist. His tale is deeply interconnected with what is going on on the planet. Extensively talking, the sector will really feel remoted and hopeless. We would like avid gamers to really feel how darkish the temper is. I’m hoping the target audience will sympathize with the principle persona and his private motivations.”
“We would like ILL to make you’re feeling just like the horror is bodily going down to you. Now not simply mental stress or scripted scares, however one of those grounded, body-level discomfort. The principle factor that units us aside is how we mix hyperrealistic physique horror with a reactive, tactile global. Enemies don’t simply die – they endure, adapt, mutate. Your movements depart a mark, and the sector responds.”
– Max Verehin, Sport Director & Co-founder, Group Clout
Why the identify “ILL?”
Obviously, numerous concept and care has long gone into the sport’s main points, and the workforce needs to stay secrets and techniques to intensify the participant enjoy. However we needed to know: what’s in the back of the sport’s identify? “We in reality sought after a brief, putting identify that whilst you write it, it looks as if a symbol. The phrase represents one thing terrible, one thing unwell, one thing cursed. Additionally, it displays the monsters — I’m now not gonna wreck our monsters’ origins, however there’s going to be a groovy interconnection between the identify and the tale of the sport.”
Designing the monsters of ILL
The creature designs via Oleg and Verehin had been getting quite a few consideration. The pair have a shared background in thought artwork, and their twisted inventive sensibility has created a recreation stuffed with nightmarish encounters.
What’s the muse in the back of the creatures of ILL? “Most commonly outdated horror movies from the Nineteen Seventies to the Nineteen Nineties,” says Oleg. “The whole thing used to be carried out with sensible results and high quality animatronics. The imperfections had been hidden with good lights and robust course.”
“In video games,” says Verehin referring to early ILL inspirations, “it’s Part-Lifestyles 2, Silent Hill, and Resident Evil sequence – titles the place the sector felt alive and perilous, the place the horror wasn’t simply visible however systemic. We had been particularly interested in that feeling of being trapped someplace actual, reacting second to second with restricted sources. From the start, we needed to construct one thing that felt grounded however deeply annoying, an enjoy that doesn’t simply scare you, however unsettles you lengthy after you’ve put the controller down.
Verehin elaborated at the monster design procedure. “We don’t have a suite procedure for developing a brand new monster. Every so often you will have an idea drawing and say, ‘how can I make this idea artwork a playable persona within the recreation?’ Every so often you notice a video on-line that includes a frightening thought. ‘Can I make a monster like that?’ It sounds ridiculous, however on occasion it really works. It’s inspiration that you were given out of your lifestyles enjoy.”
“You additionally must believe the monsters from a gameplay point of view. They need to be amusing to battle. There’s an ordeal and mistake procedure. Some designs had been rejected as a result of they didn’t paintings within the recreation.”
The varied nasties of ILL are extra than simply unsightly faces, then again — their uncanny animation provides to the visceral discomfort of having a look at them.
“We’ve had giant lend a hand from the workforce of Mundfish in putting in our animation division.Now we have numerous enjoy doing animation, like making our personal brief horror animations that taught us how motion must paintings with the intention to scare you,” Verehin explains. “We’ll have, as an example, a monster that strikes usually to start with, however we’ll attempt to tweak it in techniques to make it extra distinctive and frightening.”
He shared a humorous construction tale as an instance. “28 seconds into the Legit Trailer, this monster bends over. That is how Group Clout’s Artwork Director, Alexey Mikhailov, bent over for amusing at one of the vital mockup periods. The workforce discovered it in reality creepy, they usually determined to incorporate it within the recreation!”
Oleg mentions that the animation used to be difficult to start with, “particularly when operating at 60 frames consistent with 2d. In comparison to 30 FPS, animations can really feel much less cinematic. However through the years, I were given used to it—and now I in reality like the texture of it.”
What to anticipate from ILL gameplay
How concerning the gameplay? Verehin explains: “You discover, you employ sources, you in finding and improve guns. You’ll use your sources to craft and replace guns. You’ll want to organize your stock, in fact, as a result of sources are restricted. There will likely be intense encounters — on occasion with unmarried enemies, on occasion a small workforce, and funky moments whilst you battle waves of enemies and managers.”
There may also be environmental puzzles and interactions. “For instance, in the event you repair the electrical energy within the house, the surroundings adjustments — issues may turn into darkish in different places. We would like the environment to really feel plausible and life like.”
What are probably the most guns we’ll be the usage of? “A shotgun, an AK- 47–there used to be like this revolver gun, a sniper rifle, all of the usual issues — and, to not wreck, however there will likely be amusing, cunning guns — and numerous melee guns as properly.”
General, what do the builders at Group Clout hope avid gamers remove from ILL? “We would like avid gamers to inform each and every different, ‘Have you learnt about this recreation? This loopy factor came about!’ The opposite user would say, “K, however this came about in my playthrough!’ We’re making our recreation relaxing for various folks–now not handiest horror enthusiasts, but additionally avid gamers who wish to enjoy excellent storytelling and cool motion.”
ILL is in construction for PlayStation 5, with unencumber data to observe.
