I wouldn’t be too surprised if you had missed El Paso, Elsewhere when it debuted back in 2023. I stumbled onto it several months after launch, and fell completely in love with its tone, presentation and thrilling Max Payne-esque gunplay. After a hands-off preview of the new Steam Next Fest demo for El Paso, Elsewhere 2 and a Q&A with Xalavier Nelson Jr., I have a good feeling that it’ll be hard to ignore this punchy, blood-soaked sequel.
Getting to see a full level from early in the campaign, we stepped back into the shoes of James Savage as he fights supernatural monsters on his journey to escape the Void. A betrayal placed him here, and now he must save his betrayer in order to save himself. How alluring!
The visual presentation was captivating and deftly executed, even just from this small slice we got to see. It continues the trend that Xalavier and his team manage to pull off in terms of doing quite a lot with relatively little. The cutscenes (though minimal) remain positively dripping with style. That style is enhanced when you add in a new original hip-hop horror rap album produced by returning RJ Lake, and a new instrumental OST from returning producer Kalibration, both of which I can’t wait to hear in full.
As a big fan of what Strange Scaffold built as a gameplay foundation in the first game, it was great to see that the fundamentals remained in place. Xalavier explained this was fully intentional and that the team “looked back to the PS2 not just for inspiration, but for methodology” during development. As a result, the gameplay loop will be familiar to those who played the first title - running, dodging, diving, and firing guns in slow-mo bullet time; all the while completing basic objectives. Many of the core elements (including assets) remain the same as before, but that meant a greater amount of attention could be paid to fleshing out both specific gameplay elements and environments especially.
Speaking of environments, this one level we got to see already oozes far more atmosphere and visual density than I was expecting; particularly in comparison to the relatively compact, non-descript corridors throughout much of the first game. With the evolution in environmental design also comes gameplay diversity, first and foremost in terms of verticality. Enemies can be above and below you, and in conjunction with an increased enemy count the fights are even more frenetic and challenging.
James isn’t entirely at a disadvantage though, as he can now leap off of a magical wall in mid-air instead of just the roll and dive from the original game. Not only does this allow for greater player expression and choice in combat as you blast baddies mid-air, but I can see it providing exciting traversal opportunities in later levels.
You’ll also have a wider selection of weaponry at your disposal, with 15 weapons available that range from regular revolvers and shotguns to stake-firing tommy guns. The ones shown in the demo all seemed to pack a punch and sounded great, which isn’t much of a surprise considering how satisfying your arsenal was in EPE1. A nice touch is that throwables like Molotovs now have a dedicated button, so you don’t have to choose between bullets and explosions anymore - it’s always nicer to have both, eh?
In terms of baddies, there were already a healthy variety on show and my lord were there hundreds of them. Xalavier was weaving and diving over swarms of enemies throughout the demo (he even died once), and I can only imagine that it gets even crazier further into the game as new enemy types and mechanics are introduced. Furthermore there are some enemies in the demo that wield guns and fire back at you, immediately switching up the formula from the first game and encouraging you to move more than ever.
A small change with a big impact is how James heals. As a vampire, you must now use replenishable Stakes to melee enemies. The resulting fountain of blood can then be feasted on to restore health—a thematically appropriate and super sick way of healing. However it simultaneously creates a risk reward system; if you want to heal, you not only need Stakes in your inventory but you also have to let enemies get close to you. In a game as chaotic as El Paso, Elsewhere 2, that’s a more daunting prospect than you’d expect.
Another change is the scope of the game in comparison to its predecessor. The original has 50 levels, whereas this new game has around 20. Xalavier explained that this contracting of scope aided in the aforementioned gameplay and environment improvements, but also ensured each level gave you a new tool, weapon, enemy, context, or setting. The aim was for nothing to be superfluous.
I questioned Xalavier further on this, wondering whether specific elements of the original had been abandoned to help streamline or differentiate the sequel. He clarified that there weren’t necessarily things left behind, but that everything present had been interrogated and refined so that they actively contributed something both mechanically and thematically. That level of restraint and general desire to give everything a deeper meaning is something I absolutely caught glimpses of in the presentation, and deeply appreciate.
In the concluding moments of the preview, Xalavier stated that this game is “Quake to El Paso, Elsewhere’s Doom”. I think that’s not only true of the design philosophy with the increased focus on verticality, but also more generally in fine tuning pre-existing excellent gunplay and doubling down on the gothic aesthetic elements. It’s taking everything good about the original and looks set to make it great.
My preview gave me hints of exactly what I was hoping for, and I am even more confident that Strange Scaffold has a winner on their hands. It’s a clear (and self-admitted) labor of love, and that passion is seeping out of every stake-carved orifice. The new demo for El Paso, Elsewhere 2 is available now as part of Steam Next Fest. The full game is set to release on PC and Xbox sometime in 2027, and I for one can’t wait to get my hands on it.
