Rooted is a post-apocalyptic survival game with The Last of Us vibes

Headlight Studio has shown off a new trailer for its upcoming post-apocalyptic survival game Rooted during the Future Games Show at Gamescom Powered by Mana.

The trailer starts with a sense of contrast that lingers as a mysterious voice announces through a tannoy that villagers have nothing to fear from recent bacteriological attacks and that everyone is safe in their homes. That would be more believable, of course, if the city before us wasn’t desolate and overrun with nature. 

The rest of the trailer carries that sense of isolation forward as a player-controlled character rummages through the remains of abandoned shops for food and hauls supplies back to their base to fortify it further, all while a sombre banjo-led track plays in the background.

If that sounds like The Last of Us, the studio says the popular game is a reference for Rooted’s environment. Regarding the post-apocalyptic survival game’s lore, the wars and ecological threats to our world provide plenty of inspiration. 

Rooted’s moment-to-moment gameplay has you developing a camp to guard your resources against other survivors and facilitate access to other areas. You won’t be rooted to one base, either, as you can create as many as needed. Despite the lonely nature of Rooted’s themes, the option to play with a pal through co-op is provided. 

Rooted doesn’t have a release date yet, though you can add it to your Steam Wishlist at the link above. 

Here are the ten best survival games to test your will to live, at least until Rooted comes out.

If you’re looking for more excellent games from today's Future Games Show, have a look at our official Steam page.

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Iain joins the GamesRadar team as Deputy News Editor following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When not helping Ali run the news team, he can be found digging into communities for stories – the sillier the better. When he isn’t pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new hat, you’ll find him amassing an army of Pokemon plushies.