If there's one thing that's scarier than the threat of eternal damnation, it's improperly filed paperwork. DreadXP clearly agrees, as it's just announced a release date for its new bureaucratic horror adventure Red Tape. The game's headed to Steam on February 14th, assuming it submits all the correct forms, of course.
Coming to us from the publisher behind The Mortuary Assistant and, uh, the Sucker for Love games, Red Tape is inspired by the classic 14th-century narrative poem The Divine Comedy, written by Dante Alighieri. The poem sees Dante journeying through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, assisted by the Roman poet Virgil. Red Tape presents a bureaucratic spin on that narrative, revolving around a fallen angel trying to climb back through layers of Hell's "red tape" to reach Heaven again.
Since this is a bureaucracy simulator, you can look forward to hours of maddening gameplay, running around the offices of Hell Incorporated and trying to get its self-serving denizens to help you with literally anything. DreadXP and developer Pollaris Studios promise the ability to "run, jump, wait in line, and experience all the thrills and thralls of horrific corporate culture first-hand".
Amusingly, The Divine Comedy's nine circles of Hell are here represented as corporate departments. Here's a list of them to give you a chuckle.
- Limbo: Reception
- Lust: Human Resources
- Gluttony: Cafeteria
- Greed: Accounting
- Wrath: Customer Service
- Heresy: Marketing
- Fraud: Legal
- Violence: Planning
- Treachery: Administration
You'll have to navigate these departments if you're to have a hope of escaping Hell, but of course, there will be plenty of damned souls in line before you waiting for salvation. Do you dare commit the ultimate sin and cut in line? You won't have a choice if you ever want to see Heaven again.
Red Tape comes to PC via Steam on February 14th, with no word on a release for other platforms. You can wishlist it right here if you like.
