Alawar has announced Beholder IV, the latest installment in its dystopian narrative series, as part of the franchise’s 10th anniversary celebrations. It will be available for PC via Steam.
The announcement is accompanied by the release of the new digital comic, Beholder: The Landlord’s Handbook, and a 90 percent-off discount on the original Beholder.
Here is an overview of Beholder IV, via its Steam page:
About
From the creators of Beholder: Conductor.
Beholder IV returns to a totalitarian State where your choices matter. Live a double life as an official and underground agent. Spy, sabotage, build relationships, and decide others’ fates. But brace for a knock: the police are coming, and your home is full of evidence.
Double Agent
You used to watch your tenants, peer through keyholes, and report those who fell foul of the State. Now everything has changed.
You are a young Ministry official. Diligent, promising, and loyal to the State. At least, that’s what your superiors believe.
In truth, you work for the underground. You steal classified documents, sabotage operations, and help the resistance. But there’s something you’re hiding even from your comrades.
Spy at the Heart of the State
Welcome to the Ministry! Here, you’ll process citizens’ files, sign orders, and steadily climb the career ladder. But your real work begins when you leave your desk.
- Explore the Ministry’s vast halls and restricted offices.
- Eavesdrop on conversations, peer through keyholes, and spy on your colleagues.
- Steal keys, crack safes, forge documents, and plant listening devices.
- Gather compromising information, blackmail officials, or use their secrets to help the underground.
Every employee has their own routine, weaknesses, and secrets. And your assignments won’t lead you to all of them. Sometimes, you just need to be in the right place at the right time.
Play Both Sides
By day, you serve the State. In secret, you work for those who dream of destroying it.
The Ministry orders you to find a traitor among your colleagues. The underground asks you to help that same person escape. Your superior offers a promotion that will grant you access to classified archives. But your new position will require you to sign arrest orders yourself. Where will your loyalties lie?
Carry out assignments for both sides, gather intelligence, prepare underground operations, and decide whom to help. The State isn’t always wrong, the resistance isn’t always right, and your own interests may matter more than either cause.
Knock, Knock. Police. Open Up!
Your workday is over. You return home with stolen documents—and suddenly, there’s a knock at the door. The police are here to search your apartment. You have seconds to hide the evidence of your double life.
- Hide incriminating items in vents, under your mattress, and in hiding places around your apartment.
- Destroy documents that could expose you. But remember: once the information is gone, there’s no getting it back.
- Watch as the officers search your home, and hope they don’t look where you least want them to.
- If they find something, try to talk your way out. Lie, make excuses, or pull rank.
With every search, the police become more persistent. One day, they may arrive knowing exactly what they’re looking for.
You’re used to looking inside other people’s closets. Now try to keep everyone out of yours.
Love and Loyalty
Even in a world of total control, there’s room for love. But trusting someone here is more dangerous than it seems.
Meet four very different women. Get to know their personalities, help them with personal problems, flirt, go on dates, and develop romantic relationships. Some work for the State; others belong to the resistance. Each has her own beliefs, desires, and secrets.
But what happens if the woman you love ends up on the other side? Or asks you to do something that goes against your orders?
Decide Their Fates
In Beholder IV, there’s no “do the right thing” button.
You can save someone from arrest—or sign the order that ruins their life. You can help the resistance carry out an operation or secretly hand its plans to the State.
Steal the document you need. Alter a patrol schedule. Warn someone of danger. Or simply do nothing.
The game will remember your actions. Your decisions affect characters’ fates, relationships, the course of operations, and how the story unfolds. On your next playthrough, things could turn out very differently.
Who Will You Become?
A loyal revolutionary? A ruthless careerist? A double agent using both sides for personal gain? A resistance leader? Or perhaps an oligarch in the service of the State? Or someone willing to betray them all for the answer to a single question?
Uncover the truth in Beholder IV—a new chapter in the dark dystopian series where everyone is watching everyone else. And now, they’re watching you.
Watch the announcement teaser trailer below.