Games

Popular Horror Open-World RPG Is Getting a Sequel

Published

2 months ago

October 8, 2024

Christoph Rediske

pathologic 3 graveyard promo screenshot 1

Key Takeaways

Table of Contents

Open-world survival horror RPG Pathologic 3 has been announced for 2025, having been confirmed for the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
The game will star the Bachelor, one of the three playable characters from the first Pathologic who was missing from its 2019 reboot.
Aside from graphical improvements, Pathologic 3 will introduce a time travel mechanic that will add even more complexity to its gameplay loop and feed into its surrealist themes.

Pathologic 3 has been officially announced. The sequel to the popular open-world horror RPG promises to add to the ever-growing catalog of surreal PC and console games.

Developed by Russian studio Ice-Pick Lodge, the original Pathologic hit the market in 2005 and eventually amassed a cult following due to its intoxicating atmosphere, compelling writing, and unusual premise revolving around saving a disease-ridden town. The unnerving psychological horror game was powered by a proprietary engine. It was later remade in Unity with some extra features, as well as a number of notable omissions, with publisher TinyBuild releasing this project in 2019 as Pathologic 2.

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Pathologic 3 Announced for 2025

The open-world horror RPG series is now set to continue with Pathologic 3, which has been officially announced in early October 2024. While the third entry in the franchise will still be made by the same developers, it will be published by Cyprus-based company HypeTrain Digital. The game is currently targeting a 2025 release, having been confirmed for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Pathologic 3 Stars the Bachelor

While the first Pathologic featured three playable characters, its reboot-sequel allowed players to step into the shoes of only one of them, the so-called Haruspex. Another member of the original trio, the Bachelor, is now set to star in Pathologic 3. The upcoming game can hence be seen as a continuation of Ice-Pick Lodge’s efforts to complete Pathologic 2, which was always intended to remake all three stories from the first series entry. But releasing the Bachelor’s campaign as a standalone entry rather than paid DLC allows the Russian studio to have an easier time delivering notable graphical advancements, such as the ones that are evident from the game’s reveal trailer.

In terms of gameplay differences, Pathologic 3 will feature a time travel mechanic, which is an idea that the developers have already experimented with in Marble Nest, a Pathologic 2 DLC released in late 2019. This ability is said to be the Bachelor’s main asset in his fight against the epidemic engulfing the mysterious town in which the new game (still) takes place, allowing him to relive key events and change them to his benefit.

Our goal is to give the player a sense that time is more complex than we typically perceive it—as a linear path.

Aside from adding depth to the classic Pathologic time management gameplay loop, the ability to rewind time also feeds into the survival horror’s surrealist themes. “Our goal is to give the player a sense that time is more complex than we typically perceive it—as a linear path,” said Ice-Pick Lodge founder Nikolay Dybowski. Seeing how Pathologic 2 is still widely touted as one of the best nonlinear horror games ever made, the arrival of its even more convoluted sequel is bound to be exciting news for many fans of the genre.

Pathologic 2

Pathologic 2 is a narrative-driven dramatic thriller about fighting a deadly outbreak in a secluded rural town. The town is dying. Face the realities of a collapsing society as you make difficult choices in seemingly lose-lose situations. The plague isn’t just a disease. You can’t save everyone. The plague is devouring the town. The chief local healer is dead, and you are now to take his place. You’ll have to look for unexpected allies. The local kids are hiding something. Try playing by their rules.

You only have 12 days.

Time is of the essence: if you don’t manage it carefully, it’ll simply run out. You’ll have to choose how to spend the priceless minutes you have.

In this survival thriller, you’ll have to manage your bodily functions, offsetting hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and so on. It doesn’t boil down to just scavenging resources as surviving on your own is hard; you’ll have to win over allies. An uphill battle. Managing your bodily parameters may seem bearable at first, and as time goes by, it becomes harder and harder. Your own body is only waiting for an opportunity to give up and betray you.

Things are changing from bad to worse and the odds are stacked against you.

Your main foe is the plague itself, an incorporeal and malevolent entity that you have to defeat… without having the means to. It’s more powerful and more treacherous than you can imagine. L

oot, murder, mug, steal, barter, beg… or don’t. You need resources to survive, and it’s up to you how to obtain them. The fights are short, ungraceful, and vicious. They’re not always lethal though. Many people—yourself included—would prefer to exchange their wallet for their life.

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