DON’T NOD’s Aphelion* isn’t just another sci-fi adventure—it’s a high-stakes survival puzzle where silence is the ultimate weapon. The game drops players onto Persephone, a newly discovered icy planet at the edge of the solar system, where astronauts Ariane Montclair and Thomas Cross must navigate a hostile world while evading a relentless, blind predator that tracks them by sound. Unlike traditional horror games where visibility is the key to survival, Aphelion forces players to master stealth through auditory awareness—a twist inspired by Alien: Isolation but executed with a unique mechanical edge.
The game’s narrative unfolds linearly over 11 chapters, each roughly an hour long, alternating between Ariane’s traversal-heavy gameplay and Thomas’s more investigative, narrative-driven sections. Ariane, equipped with a grappling hook and a precision-climbing system, must time her movements carefully—ledge-grabs aren’t automatic, and a misjudged button press could send her plummeting into the planet’s treacherous ice. Meanwhile, Thomas, injured in the crash, focuses on exploration and puzzle-solving, with limited mobility and oxygen constraints adding to the tension.
The Nemesis: A Hunt Based on Sound
At the heart of Aphelion is the Nemesis, an organic creature composed of water in its liquid, ice, and gas forms. Blind but hyper-sensitive to vibrations, it relentlessly pursues the players, malfunctioning technology and flickering flashlights as its presence looms. The creature’s design draws heavily from Alien: Isolation, but the developers at DON’T NOD flipped the script: instead of hiding from sight, players must suppress sound. Sprinting, climbing, or even breathing too loudly can trigger its attention, forcing players to move deliberately in near-darkness. The Nemesis adapts over time, gaining new abilities while the players acquire tools like decoys and dynamic patrol pattern tracking via the Navigator device.
The planet itself is a character—Persephone’s melting ice creates shifting environments, and the developers collaborated with the European Space Agency (ESA) to ground the setting in near-future plausibility. The world is modeled after hypothetical Planet Nine, a theoretical ninth planet scientists believe may exist beyond Neptune. ESA’s input shaped not just the planet’s geography but also the astronauts’ gear, ensuring the tech feels believable within a 40-year timeframe from 2062.
A Linear Story with Dual Perspectives
While Aphelion shares DNA with DON’T NOD’s previous narrative-driven titles like Life is Strange, it’s a strictly linear experience—no branching paths or multiple endings. Instead, the game weaves two perspectives into a cohesive whole. Ariane’s sections emphasize traversal and stealth, while Thomas’s chapters lean into investigation and survival challenges. Their connection is maintained through audio logs, which initially seem one-sided but later reveal a supernatural link, deepening the emotional stakes.
The developers prioritized accessibility over traditional difficulty settings. Players can disable manual ledge-grabbing, remove balancing challenges on thin ice, or adjust timing-sensitive mechanics related to Nemesis encounters. Overlays can highlight climbable surfaces, and dynamic UI adjustments ensure the game remains playable for those who prefer a more forgiving experience. This approach reflects DON’T NOD’s commitment to inclusivity, especially after the mixed commercial reception of Banishers: Ghost of New Eden and Jusant.
What We Know So Far
- Setting: 2062, on Persephone—a distant, icy planet where Earth’s desperate colonists crash-land after a mission gone wrong.
- Gameplay Pillars: Exploration, precise climbing mechanics, and sound-based stealth against the Nemesis.
- Nemesis: An unkillable, blind predator that hunts by vibration. Players must move silently to avoid detection.
- Dual Narratives: Ariane (traversal/stealth) and Thomas (investigation/survival) alternate in 11 linear chapters.
- Accessibility: Customizable controls, ledge-grab assistance, and adjustable difficulty for timing-sensitive sections.
- Release: Later this year on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X, with day-one Game Pass availability.
The game’s inspiration extends beyond Alien: Isolation, drawing from films like Interstellar and Arrival for its scientific grounding. The Nemesis’s organic, water-based design—able to emerge from ice, liquid, or vapor—adds an unpredictable layer to encounters. Early footage suggests claustrophobic cave systems and dynamic environments where the Nemesis’s patrol patterns shift based on player actions.
With Aphelion*, DON’T NOD is betting on a high-concept blend of survival horror and narrative-driven adventure. The challenge lies in balancing tension with accessibility—a tightrope the studio has walked before but with a fresh twist: in this world, the scariest thing isn’t the dark, but the sound of your own breath.
