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Protocol Games’ newly-launched Kickstarter campaign is the second one for Song of Horror. Having fallen short of its goal the first time around, the developer is back to try again.

Song of Horror is old-school inspired, 3rd-person survival horror game. It plays on fear of that which cannot be understood.

You’ll control up to 16 characters who have been dragged throughout time into a story for which they’re ill prepared.

The game has no combat. It does have a primeval horror known as The Presence. You’ll be haunted by its twisted manifestations as it screws around with your senses and warps reality.

You’ll have no weapons or defenses. You must run, hide and do whatever it takes to survive. You’ll have nowhere to go that’s completely safe from The Presence.

The game’s story revolves around Daniel Noyer, who is sent by the publishing house for which he works to find the company’s most important client, a writer who hasn’t been heard from in weeks.

You arrive at the writer’s mansion and discover something is wrong. No one is home and the main door is standing open. Thus begins a spine-chilling tale of paranormal horrors.

Interestingly, Daniel will seldom be playable. Most of the time you’ll control up to 16 characters who are connected to him in some way, or who have somehow ended up in the game’s milieu.

Although Song of Horror is divided into chapters, it’s not episodic. It will be released as a self-contained game with full content. The chapters represent divisions in the story.

You’ll visit a different location in each chapter. All characters and locations will have backstories, adding to the depth of the narrative and enriching the game’s world.

Song of Horror has a unique form of permadeath. Each character has a single chance to succeed. If that character dies, another will take over from that point forward. If everyone dies, the chapter is restarted and presto! The characters rise from the dead so you can try again. If everyone doesn’t die and you make it to the end of the chapter, the characters who did die stay dead, gone, bye-bye. 

The plan is to release Song of Horror, which has already been Greenlit, on PC, Mac, Linux, PS4 and Xbox One in 2016. Protocol is looking to raise at least €50,000 on Kickstarter by December 10, 2015.

Thirty-five percent of the goal has already been achieved. If you love a good scare (as I do), please consider backing Song of Horror.