X1 Games has announced Plague Keepers, a new co-op PvE extraction shooter set inside a world ravaged by disease, where surviving the monsters is only part of the problem.

The studio, previously responsible for psychological cosmic horror game Emotionless: The Last Ticket, is heading in a very different direction for its next project, although it is retaining the grim atmosphere and world-building of its previous work.

Plague Keepers casts players as Inquisitors sent into quarantined areas to carry out dangerous contracts before escaping with whatever they can find. Missions can be tackled solo or cooperatively with up to three friends.

Once inside a quarantine zone, players will be tasked with objectives including destroying sources of the plague, recovering relics, investigating infected areas, rescuing survivors and defending important locations.

Naturally, none of that is going to be particularly straightforward.

The plague has transformed former humans into grotesque creatures, while ammunition, health and time will all need to be carefully managed as players attempt to complete their contract and reach an extraction point.

There is also a rather unpleasant clock ticking in the background.

After players enter a zone, they will only have a limited amount of time before infected fog rolls across the area. Once it arrives, stronger enemies begin to appear and previously safe routes can become considerably more dangerous.

That creates one of Plague Keepers’ main risk-versus-reward systems. Players can extract once their main objective is complete, or remain inside the quarantine zone for longer in the hope of finding more valuable resources.

Obviously, staying around while deadly fog fills the map and increasingly horrible things attempt to eat you is probably not the sensible option, but sensible rarely gets you the best loot in an extraction shooter.

Interestingly, the environment can also be used against the infected. Players will be able to open new routes, restore generators and activate enormous bells capable of stunning nearby enemies.

Combat combines period-inspired firearms with melee attacks and close-range finishing moves, with X1 Games saying larger groups of enemies will encourage players to remain together and support one another during co-op missions.

Game and Art Director Ivan Madunić said the idea for Plague Keepers partly came from wanting to add considerably more action to the kind of atmospheric worlds the studio had already created.

“Emotionless: The Last Ticket was praised for its atmosphere and art, and while we are incredibly proud of the world we created, there was always one thought in the back of my mind: ‘If only I could shoot something.’ With Plague Keepers, we wanted to take the atmosphere and world-building that defined Emotionless and combine them with the action and co-op gameplay we had been wanting to explore. The result is a completely different experience, but one that still carries the same passion for dark, atmospheric worlds.”

X1 Games has released a first gameplay trailer showing off Plague Keepers’ bleak quarantine zones, enemies and cooperative combat.

A release date and confirmed platforms have not yet been announced.