by theygamesSometimes, a mod is so great and so popular, it becomes its own beast entirely. PUBG and DayZ spawned from the versatile world of Arma. The Forgotten City was birthed from Skyrim. And Total Chaos is a bleak and brutal horror FPS that is basically an Unreal Engine 5 remake of an epic Doom 2 mod. Developed by a team that includes the original creator of that mod, Total Chaos offers up Silent Hill-style scares and some Stalker-esque survival mechanics, and as well as dropping a brand new demo for Steam Next Fest, its release date has also been locked in for later this year.
Released in 2018 as a total conversion mod for Doom 2, Total Chaos has now been reimagined in its own standalone game. Beautifully gray, haunting, and atmospheric, it tasks you with exploring Fort Oasis – a once thriving mining town that’s fallen into darkness and corruption. Accompanied only by a crackly, mysterious voice over your radio, you venture deep into the mines and their surrounding buildings to uncover the truth.
Despite its Doom origins, this is not an aggressive, over-the-top boomer shooter – while it is an FPS game, weapons and ammunition are scarce, so you’ll often turn to melee combat to take down enemies. Even then, you’ll have to be sparing and resourceful – makeshift weapons can be made out of what you find scattered around Fort Oasis, but an inventory weight system is also present, so you won’t be able to hoard a vast arsenal or carry loads of materials at once.
If you really wanted to immerse yourself in its eerie environments and stare its freakish monsters square in the face, it’s also getting a VR version at launch. Speaking of which, Total Chaos previously had a broad 2025 window, but that’s just been trimmed down. Total Chaos and its VR edition will release on Steam on Thursday, July 24.
Developer Trigger Happy Interactive has also revealed that Total Chaos will get a post-launch paid DLC called Epilogue, which features “an extended narrative, unexplored locations, and a never-before-seen tenth chapter.”
If you don’t want to wait until July, then fear not – a new and improved demo for the game has just dropped as part of Steam Next Fest. You can jump in and try Total Chaos from now until Monday, March 3.
Once you’ve scared yourself silly with the demo, check out some more of the best horror games, or look ahead to what’s on the horizon with our upcoming PC games guide.
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