Astarion and Clive Reunite for 'Dead Take': Hollywood Horror That's Actually Trying Something New?
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
*Dead Take*, a new psychological horror game from Surgent Studios, stars Neil Newbon and Ben Starr in a live-action experience exploring the dark side of Hollywood, which sounds like it might be onto something, for once.
Right, so Abubakar Salim (the bloke who played Bayek in *Assassin's Creed Origins*, no less) is cooking up something properly intriguing with Surgent Studios. It's called *Dead Take*, and it's a psychological horror that's less 'escape room' and more 'reverse escape room'. Sounds mental, doesn't it?
But the real kicker? It stars Neil Newbon (Astarion from *Baldur's Gate 3*, everyone's favourite morally dubious vampire) and Ben Starr (Clive from *Final Fantasy 16*). Talk about a dream team. Salim describes it as blurring the lines between film and games, exploring the dark side of Hollywood success. "How far will you go for success?" he asks. Deep, mate, deep.
According to Eurogamer, *Dead Take* is set in a Hollywood mansion, and players will be sifting through live-action clips – starring Neil and Ben themselves – to solve puzzles. Think *Alan Wake* meets *Her Story*, but with actual A-list (well, gaming A-list) actors. Salim even admits those games were influences, so at least he's upfront about nicking all the best ideas (good on him, I say!).
What's particularly interesting is that Salim *specifically* wanted to use live-action footage of Newbon and Starr. "I didn't want them to hide behind animated characters, or 3D characters. I wanted to show you *them*," he says. It's a bold move, showcasing the actors themselves instead of their digital counterparts. It also reflects Salim's own balancing act between acting and game development – he's even been in *House of the Dragon*, which, let's be honest, is a bit of alright, innit?
While Surgent's previous game, *Tales of Kenzera: Zau*, was a deeply personal project inspired by Salim's grief, *Dead Take* tackles a different kind of darkness: the toxic side of fame and the lengths people will go to for stardom. Salim, Newbon, and Starr have all witnessed this firsthand, which adds a layer of authenticity that's hard to fake.
"Within Hollywood and acting, I've experienced and seen and heard a lot of stories of people who would do and give anything for stardom and are quite openly very comfortable with that," he said. "It's quite frightening."
It's also refreshing to see a studio willing to shift gears genre-wise. Salim acknowledges that people might have expected something similar to *Zau*, but *Dead Take* is a statement: they're storytellers first, and not afraid to explore different genres and themes. "What better way of exploring how far you will go than putting you in a first-person psychological horror game where you're playing an actor who literally is always living on the edge of 'I don't know when my next paycheck is coming through'?" he asks.
And who's publishing this delightfully dark dive into Hollywood's underbelly? None other than Pocketpair, the folks behind *Palworld*. Seems like a good fit, judging from how willing they are to push boundaries and challenge expectations. There's no release date yet, but *Dead Take* is slated to launch on PC (Steam) later this year. Colour me intrigued!
Tags: psychological horror, neil newbon, ben starr, surgent studios, hollywood
Original article: Eurogamer