80 Days dev's ambitious archaeological adventure Heaven's Vault gets a release date Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. 80 Days dev's ambitious archaeological adventure Heaven's Vault gets a release date Out next month on PC and PS4. News by Matt Wales Reporter Updated on 29 Mar 2019 6 comments Inkle, the studio behind the superb video game adaptations of Steve Jackson's Sorcery and the breathtaking Verne-inspired 80 Days, has announced that its enormously ambitious archaeological adventure Heaven's Vault will be coming to PlayStation 4 and PC on April 16th. Heaven's Vault is described as a "huge, incredibly flexible" narrative game that "seamlessly, fluidly" adapts to players' choices as their story unfolds. It follows the adventures of archeologist Aliya Elasra, who, with a little help from her robot companion Six, must plot a course across a world known as the Nebula in search of a missing academic. As with Inkle's previous interactive-fiction-style games, Heaven's Vault is a story-focussed, non-linear adventure, that's heavy on the (invariably well-written) text - albeit this time expanded out into a fully-3D, and strikingly designed, world. Here, your exploratory investigations take the form of on-foot roaming (with these segments playing out in a loosely similar style to a point-and-click game), and slightly more arcade-y sailing as you navigate slipstreams in your little ship to reach exotic new locales. At Heaven's Vault's core, however, is what Inkle is calling a "massive linguistic puzzle", requiring players to decipher the long-lost language of Aliya's ancestors. Inkle stresses, however, that your translations could easily be wrong, and you might never know. Inkle's previous games, 80 Days in particular, have been wonderful things - elegant, nuanced, with some dazzling world-building, despite most of the heavy lifting being done through text rather than flashy visuals. As such, it'll be fascinating to see how the studio's strengths translate to an experience that emphasises far richer audio-visual presentation. We'll know more when Heaven's Vault arrives on PlayStation 4 and Steam on April 16th. In the meantime, you can check out Eurogamer's initial impressions from earlier this year. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More News Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Modder dives into Demon's Souls files following PS5 jailbreak, discovers fabled Ring of the Chieftain Who knows what's nexus? 5 Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 11 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Sennheiser's legendary HD 599 open-back headphones are just £70 at Amazon in the Prime Early Access Sale Comfortable with neutral sound and a wide sound stage. Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. 1 Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store