We all make sacrifices, but Worship does it in style without you having to be a martyr; in actual fact, it encourages you to be a sadistic bastard. After all, if these idiots are going to be following you…religiously, why not grab them around the neck, lob at other cults to ‘break their armour’, and then, literally, bleed them dry? Christ, this game sounds incredibly dark. Yes, it is, but it’s also bloody brilliant.
With a black and white colour palette that’s garnished with a glorious shade of claret and splashes of hot pink making a cameo, the visuals in this title by Chasing Rat Games are on par with an aphrodisiac covered in Marmite for sickos like yours truly. The art style is beautifully grotesque, and the gameplay is even more… excellent.
Selected by the Old Ones, you play as a zealot who is to ‘incite the end of the world’ by spreading the good word of your eldritch masters. To do this, you need an entourage of halfwits that’ll do anything for you, from simply loitering and destruction of property to intimidation and visceral violence to any other cults that dare interfere with your message. And if your followers aren’t worthy, they’ll die for the cause or be sacrificed.
It’s quite a sinister comparison to make, but Worship does share some mechanics with Pikmin, though I don’t think the blood rituals would get past Nintendo. Instead of playing a flute or asking the followers if they want to see some puppies and then lure them into your van, you whip out your knife and bleed a nice, pretty circle of blood around them. If successfully replicated, and surprisingly, you psychos don’t need to bleed a perfect circle, pressing a button will activate it and the innocent bystanders begin to serve you.
Playing exclusively on the Steam Deck was the way forward, and manually drawing a circle around potential pawns was easy enough, though it wasn’t without a few clumsy attempts that didn’t register. This can prove slightly problematic as your zealot will bleed out and subsequently die, ending your run and no doubt they’ll be on the Old One’s shitlist. Fortunately, you can absorb blood trails, as well as conveniently located blood pools and fountains. This, in turn, helps a great deal when you encounter enemies and hurl blood at them. Your veins aren’t infinite supplies.
Rituals play a huge part in Worship as besides converting followers, you can summon creatures to fight for you, unlock godly powers that attack rival cults, and make multiple sacrifices for rewards. These rewards can then be thrown upon the shoulders of your followers and presented to your master for even more followers. Provide them with enough of these artefacts and you’ll progress to the next stage.
Besides the sacrifices, the zealot can also uncover these eldritch keys that summon an ancient structure that will unlock a boon of sorts. Be that buffs for combat or extra spells, it’s pretty useful as there’s a good amount to uncover. The map in the demo was effectively blacked out and required exploring. Without knowing what’s around the corner, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed with your followers getting stunned; even facing permadeath. Still, power in numbers never hurt anyone and commanding 80+ followers to attack all at once is endearing. Just don’t expect much when you get to the boss battle as there’s an element of survival required…
A Worship demo is available, but Early Access is now here and encourage you to check this out or face the consequences.
