Derelikt arrives on PlayStation 5 on November 13, with a 10% discount available on preorders before release. The sci-fi horror game adopts a look inspired by the original PlayStation era. Creator and art director Philipp Jensen outlines the game in the official announcement, which also includes downloadable images.
The story sends an outside contractor to Von Neumann Outpost, an outpost attached to an unusual asteroid in orbit around Saturn. The job is to investigate what happened to Excavation Team Delta after it disappeared on the surface. Inside, failing systems and survivors with conflicting accounts complicate the investigation.
People encountered aboard the outpost have their own motives and secrets. Jensen describes them as potentially useful, dangerous or doomed. The intended atmosphere draws on uncertainty about whom to trust, alongside encounters with otherworldly horrors.
Combat includes conventional weapons, with prototypes and alien weaponry also available to discover as you progress. Jensen says the design combines fast shooting with resource management, exploration, conversations and puzzles, making those activities part of the game's intended tension.
The visual treatment includes hand-painted textures, lighting based on vertex colour and deliberately warping textures. The developers dynamically subdivide geometry to limit that warping, a technique Jensen connects to higher-end games from the period. Retro CGI cinematics are also included, alongside settings that let players turn effects on or off to suit their preferences.
Development has been underway in some form since late 2021. Jensen describes an approach that pairs modern game design with the atmosphere and visual character of sci-fi horror from the PSOne era.
