ILL The Most Brutal Horror FPS Since the Original FEAR

The director of ILL talked to Gamefusionusa and shared new details about how the game was made its story and what inspired the horror FPS.

This is the first short trailer for the game ILL that people remember. It’s only 60 seconds long and shows a place different from the real game. But it still shows what the developer Team Clout wants the game to be like. The fighting is slow and feels heavy. The enemies are strange and scary with a complex physics system. There is a lot of blood and violence. Since ILL was first shown four years ago there have been many short videos and hints but the game is still a mystery. It has a Steam page and some social media but we don’t really know what the game is about how it plays or who made it. Now, after a reveal at SGF the game’s director talked to Gamefusionusa about the game’s story and ideas. From what we have seen and heard ILL is a mix of FEAR Half-Life 2, and Soldier of Fortune but it also has more unique things.

The first trailer came out in 2021. Since then what happened with ILL? It started as a small project by four main developers. From 2021 to 2023 Team Clout made some concept videos to show how they wanted the game to look and feel but these were not real gameplay. The team wanted to work on ILL full time but they also had to do other jobs like making visual effects for horror movies to earn money. Real progress on ILL only began in 2023.

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Team Clout has four founders says Max Verehin the game director and co-founder. They wanted to create a scary horror game with physics. They made some videos to show their idea. At first the team was very small. It was a tough journey with problems like finding a place to work and building the team.

We sat down and thought We should start working seriously and full time. In summer 2023 we joined with Mundfish Powerhouse and that’s when real work began. We made the team and finished a playable demo for ourselves.

You might know the name Mundfish because they made Atomic Heart. Powerhouse is a new part of their company that helps find publish and make exciting new games. With Powerhouse’s support Team Clout has grown to about 50 full-time developers and has been working seriously on ILL. Since 2023 everything we've seen about the game is real gameplay not just ideas or videos.

All four founders wanted to play ILL in the future says Verehin. They were inspired by Half-Life 2 especially how the story moves and feels. The game makes you feel like you are on a journey starting here and needing to reach a goal. The world feels alive. They want to bring this feeling to their game. They also focus on physics like objects that can break or move. When you fight in a room in ILL after the fight the room looks different because things can move around.

We are working to make enemies react with real physics. The enemies won’t be fully automatic, but when you shoot one it feels like it’s real physics. When an enemy falls it can hit another enemy and they react to it.

You might know the name Mundfish they made the game Atomic Heart. Powerhouse is a new part of that company that helps find and make special new games. With Powerhouse’s help Team Clout has grown to about 50 full-time workers and is seriously working on the game ILL. Since 2023 everything we’ve seen is actual gameplay not just ideas or videos.

All four founders wanted to play ILL in the future says Verehin. They got some ideas from Half-Life 2 especially how the story flows and the game’s pace. It feels like you have a whole journey ahead starting here and needing to reach there. The world feels alive. They want to bring that feeling to their game. They are also making physics a big part of the game like things you can move or break. After a fight in a room the room looks different because things aren’t stuck to the floor.

We want enemies to feel more real with physics. The enemies are not completely random but when you shoot them it feels like physics is working. Even though we use some tricks and animations when you shoot one enemy they fall and can hit others making them react too.

ILL is a scary survival game where you don’t have a lot of bullets and can’t kill every enemy. It’s a shooter but instead of ghosts or demons you fight slimy weird mutant creatures. The game has changed a lot in the last four years. At first it was set in a small town in America. Now it happens near a lonely fortress in Eastern Europe but some old places might still be in the game.

Clout is not only making ILL look bloody and scary but also wants the sounds to be really disgusting and frightening.

Gore is very important says Verehin. You might remember the game Soldier of Fortune where when you killed an enemy you wanted to see the blood and damage. We want players to enjoy exploring this. It shows how enemies react when you hit them like if you shoot off a body part the enemy’s behavior changes. In one trailer an enemy loses its hand and looks down to see where its hand used to be. This is part of our gore system.

It's not just about how things look. We want you to feel the sounds too. If you shoot a revolver in a hallway the sound will feel like it is really in a hallway. The gunshot sounds strong and powerful. Our enemies are not normal zombies. They do very cruel things. If they lose a body part that part can grow into a new enemy.

Verehin talks about how ILL’s levels are made. The stages have big open spaces that lead into narrow hallways. There are different paths to take and players should explore a little but it’s not completely open. The director says they want the game to feel scary and lonely. Whether you’re in a small dark hallway or a big open area under the sky everything should feel frightening.

A little while ago you might have thought ILL was just an idea that would never become a real game. But it is real and it's happening now. The game looks just like the first trailer showed with all the same strong features.