“What I am about to do has not been approved by the Vatican.” So utters Faith: The Unholy Trinity (opens in new tab)‘s protagonist on his descent into the supernatural. Developed by Airdorf Games and published by boomer shooter boy band New Blood, Faith: The Unholy Trinity is an 8-bit horror game where you play a priest investigating a Satanic possession.
Faith has an immediately arresting art style, with graphics reminiscent of PC games from the 1980s—I immediately think of Castle Wolfenstein (opens in new tab) by Muse Software, released in 1981 (can you believe that id’s seminal FPS was actually a reboot?). Everything’s presented on a black background, with characters and details represented in simple, primary color sprites.
For cutscenes, Faith pairs those stark colors with shockingly good rotoscope animation like the kind used in Prince of Persia or Another World (opens in new tab). Faith’s uber-retro style and the uncanny effect of rotoscoping contribute to a supremely unique atmosphere—there’s not really anything out there exactly like Faith.
The game’s first chapter was released for free all the way back in 2017, and since then Airdorf has expanded on the concept with support from New Blood. The full Faith experience seems like just the thing to help get into the Halloween spirit, and you can get it for $15 on itch.io (opens in new tab) or snag it for an early bird $13.50 on Steam (opens in new tab) until it goes full price on October 28.
Faith isn’t New Blood’s only foray into 8-bit PC gaming. The fantastic retro shooter Dusk got an even more throwback prequel with Dusk ’82 (opens in new tab), also available on Steam (opens in new tab). If you’re looking for something else suitably Halloweeny from the indie label, I might turn your attention to the horror stealther Gloomwood (opens in new tab), as long as you don’t mind early access.