NORCO devs drop musical demo for upcoming micro-adventure Silenus

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Custom collaborative demo promotes new album by doom metal band Thou

An important part of what made Geography of Robots' NORCO so memorable upon its release in 2022 was the haunting soundtrack by Louisiana "doom metal band" Thou. While the two won't be joining forces on the indie developer's next game, Silenus, they've collaborated on the next best thing with an experimental standalone demo for the band's upcoming new album, Umbilical.

Though it doesn't take place in the same world (or at least the same era) as NORCO, Silenus is similarly set in the imposing shadow of Big Oil. An "enigmatic company with an unclear agenda" called Rubens Link has "taken control of the Gulf Flow oil refinery" and begun implementing new methods of automation that raise suspicions of other unknown purposes. Players control Titian, the company's "flagship android" who must "explore the refinery’s machinery, tank farms, and offices." Along the way you will decipher "clues from computer logs, discarded journals, and the remnants of vanished workers." Only by wandering "deeper down the rabbit hole of Gulf Flow Oil" can you hope to piece together the secrets of this mysterious organization. 

Based on Silenus's demo, the short but atmospheric "narrative micro-adventure" looks and plays quite differently than its predeccessor. Gone are the slick pixel art and point-and-click controls, replaced here with a minimalist art style, overhead view and free-roaming navigation via keyboard or gamepad. It remains to be seen how much of that carries over to the full game, however, which is still "very early in development, with most details of the game likely to change significantly in the coming months." The main goal of the demo is to unlock all ten tracks from Umbilical as you progress, which can then be listened to on the music player offered in-game from the title screen or pause menu. 

Umbilical is due to be released on May31st, while Silenus can now be wislishted on Steam, though no target launch date has yet been announced for Windows and Mac.

• Advertisement
• Help support AGH by advertising with us