The grotesque new game from Silent Hill’s director launches this fall

Slitterhead revealed its first look at its horrific gameplay during Summer Game Fest 2024. It’s set to launch on November 8 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Slitterhead is the first game by Bokeh Game Studio. It was founded by Keiichiro Toyama, who was the director of the original Silent Hill and Siren games before directing both Gravity Rush titles. He will be reuniting with longtime Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka, who will be composing the music for Slitterhead. This will be Toyama’s first horror title in over a decade.

Rather than playing as a single protagonist, the Slitterhead gameplay trailer shows the player controlling a spirit of sorts with the ability to jump between bodies to use as vessels in a modern Japanese setting. Many of these appear to be average people fighting with fists and firearms, but certain characters shown appear to have special abilities like forming long claws from their hands to slash the various monstrosities you will encounter. One regrew a limb and summoned a red sword, and another conjured a minigun, suggesting a wide range of options.

Multiple of these characters are present during certain encounters, allowing you to swap bodies on the fly to access their specific skillset. Body-hopping is also a traversal mechanic that allows you to ditch bodies mid-air to snap to a new one on a ledge or fire escape farther on. Even animals can be possessed, but no footage of what we will be able to do in the body of an animal was shown.