Survival horror games have seen a resurgence in the late 2010s and throughout the 2020s thanks to remakes and sequels of previously popular survival horror titles such as Resident Evil, Dead Space, and Silent Hill. The financial success and widespread appeal of these survival horror titles additionally led to developers producing new entries in celebrated series such as Resident Evil’s upcoming Resident Evil Requiem and developers producing entirely new survival horror games. While games such as ILL and Cronos: The New Dawn are building off of modern survival horror elements, one upcoming game is striving to return to the roots of the survival horror genre: Dread XP’s Heartworm.
New Survival Horror Game is Like Resident Evil 4 Meets Silent Hill f
This new survival horror game looks to combine the combat of Resident Evil 4 with the terrors of Silent Hill f in a unique setting.
Heartworm’s Direction and Nostalgic Development
Initially unveiled in early 2020 through a demo included in the digital Haunted PS1 Demo Disk, Heartworm is a single-player, third-person, survival horror game that utilizes fixed camera angles, pre-rendered backgrounds, and in-game cutscenes akin to the original Resident Evil 1 and 2. Similar to other titles found in the Haunted PS1 Demo Disk, such as Dead Heat and Fatum Betula, Heartworm is an indie game built to mirror the classic low-polygon, pixelated style of PlayStation 1-era games like Resident Evil and Parasite Eve. According to Heartworm’s creator and sole developer, Vincent Adinolfi, Heartworm will be a “... Nostalgia-charged love letter to late 90s [survival horror] genre progenitors Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and Dino Crisis.”
In an interview with Heartworm’s publisher, Dread XP, Adinolfi described Heartworm as being a “suburban horror” game akin to the original Silent Hill, as opposed to the generalized survival horror games seen in modern gaming. This is due to Heartworm’s setting of a supernatural house located in a mountain range that’s intended to create a sense of familiarity and unease, as many people live in suburban areas. While Heartworm is intended to be a love letter to classic PS1-era survival horror games, its themes surrounding mental illness and trauma are semi-auto-biographical with Adinolfi’s own struggles. Some of these autobiographical elements were toned down a bit following Heartworm’s original demo, but they can still be felt through Heartworm’s protagonist, Sam.
Heartworm’s Narrative and Gameplay Explained
Heartworm follows Sam, a young photographer who’s struggling to come to terms with the deaths of loved ones, particularly her grandfather. Eventually, Sam, after attempting to find ways to contact those who have died, stumbles upon a mysterious message board discussing a house that supposedly has a room that can connect people with the afterlife and deceased loved ones. Despite no one previously visiting the house ever returning, Sam makes her way to the supernatural house and “enter[s] a world born of memories.” In Heartworm’s 2025 IGN Fan Fest trailer, Sam writes to someone detailing her intent to visit the house and claims that this person will no longer have to worry about her, but the identity of this individual is currently unknown.
In terms of gameplay, Heartworm is less action-packed than its Resident Evil influences. Instead of wielding a variety of firearms or melee weapons, Sam’s only defense is her camera, which she can use to pacify roaming static monsters and their variants, similar to the gameplay seen in Fatal Frame. On top of fighting static monsters, which Adinolfi described as functioning similar to Resident Evil’s common zombies, players will additionally encounter giant spiders, a mysterious cloaked figure, and more as bosses. Combat isn’t Heartworm’s sole gameplay mechanic, however, as players will also have to solve multiple puzzles and maintain item management with Sam’s limited inventory, just like the classic Resident Evil games.
Heartworm’s Classic Appeal and Release
While Resident Evil and Silent Hill games have seen newfound popularity with their modern remakes and sequels, their original Fifth and Sixth Console Generation titles still retain a horrifying charm that has seldom been recaptured or recreated in modern games. Remakes may have made some gameplay mechanics and story elements easier to digest and understand, but there's still an immense allure to the original games’ presentation. This appeal of classic survival horror titles has led to major gaming companies re-releasing classics for modern platforms, such as PlayStation announcing the original Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis coming to PlayStation Plus Premium’s Classics range during the June 2025 State of Play.
New games and mods such as Heartworm and Fallout: Bakersfield may prove that older styles of games can still find a place in the hyperrealistic modern gaming world, thanks to their charming yet fun presentations and well-intended narrative direction. At the very least, Heartworm can remind people of what made classic survival horror games such as Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Dino Crisis great in the first place. Heartworm will take about four to six hours to complete, but there are multiple endings, just like the original Resident Evil and Silent Hill, that will make repeat playthroughs all the more intriguing. Heartworm’s demo can currently be downloaded and played for free exclusively on PC, with the complete game later launching on Thursday, July 31.
- Released
- March 22, 1996
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Publisher(s)
- Capcom
- Franchise
- Resident Evil
- Number of Players
- 1
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
