For survival-horror fans, ILL was undoubtedly one of the standout games from this year's swathe of summer showcases. Appearing at the PlayStation State of Play, the title gave us a gruesome look at its gameplay, story, and horrifying monsters.

Previously, the developers had mentioned how one of the big inspirations for the game was the Resident Evil franchise, but in a new interview with us here at TheGamer, the game's director (and Team Clout co-founder), Maxim Verehin, revealed the game's other big inspirations, including last year's surprise horror masterpiece, Mouthwashing.

ILL Director Reveals That Mouthwashing And Half-Life 2 Were "Huge Inspirations" For The Team

ILL's development team is full of horror veterans. It has directors who worked on V/H/S, Longlegs, and It: Welcome to Derry. Between them, they had enough horror knowledge to fill a library. Of course, when creating a new IP, though, you'll need inspiration from everywhere, and the team certainly got that.

“We are all huge Resident Evil fans, but Dead Space is a big inspiration for us, because it has the dismemberment mechanics. ILL is also constrained to a single location with many biomes; there will be a lot of diversity, just like the Ishimura,” Verehin tells me. “Another game that inspired us is Mouthwashing. I love this game so much. Its story is amazing, but also the pure horror atmosphere and the way the protagonists interact with each other. It was really inspiring.

Another game that inspired us is Mouthwashing.

"Half-Life 2 is also a huge inspiration for us. How the physics worked in the games, and how fun it was to just play the game. The story structure, when you see a lot of new places and go on a linear journey, we take a big inspiration from Half-Life 2 as well."

Alongside games, Verehin tells me that they were inspired by movies, particularly old ones.

“In terms of movies, we love the old-school horror genre. It’s not about ghosts. It’s not about deep trauma and seeing things; it’s all about the monsters," he says.

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Our full interview with Verehin was incredibly insightful. Alongside his inspirations, the director revealed how the appearance at the PlayStation State of Play came about, how they've made a complete skeleton for each enemy to be dismembered, and how Leon Kennedy actor Nick Apostolides DMed them on Discord. You can read it right here.

ILL Like Follow Followed Action Horror Survival Horror Shooter Systems Released 2027 Developer(s) Team Clout inc. Publisher(s) Team Clout inc., Mundfish Engine Unreal Engine 5 Number of Players Single-player 12 Images Close
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Genre(s) Action, Horror, Survival Horror, Shooter Powered by Expand Collapse

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