For a lot of you out there, you might not know what exactly Crisol: Theater of Idols is. I didn’t know much heading into my preview of the game at the Blumhouse Offices in Los Angeles. I watched the trailer, but I really didn’t want anything else to change my perspective on the game. It comes from Vermila Studios, a small Spanish studio, and Blumhouse Games as the publisher. For fans of classic first-person action/horror games like Bioshock or Dishonored, this is a dream come true.

I know I’m someone that’s kind of tired of the modern fascination with multiplayer games, especially when it comes to first person games. There’s just something about sitting down with a controller and the game and playing it by yourself. Crisol: Theater of Idols captures that feeling. Even though the demo I played was set in the middle of the game, I picked up the story and how to control the game quickly.

It’s set in a fictional version of Spain called Hispania and you play as Gabriel, a soldier who can use his own blood as a deadly weapon. Your mission is to fulfill orders from the divine Sun God. The story features wild monsters of varying nightmarish quality, including a character like the Nemesis from Resident Evil that finds her way to chase you around and is invincible.

The real wrinkle to the game, though, is that your blood is a weapon. Your blood also happens to be how your health is kept track of. So if you like spraying and praying, you might not succeed. There’s a cerebral element to Crisol: Theater of Idols that makes you have to think about every shot. The enemies are also quite tough; they take some punishment, so changing up your playstyle on the fly makes for some engaging gameplay.

There are also puzzles to solve, including the one during my playtime, which was focused on siphoning water through pipes to put out a fire that was blocking my way. Those puzzles, combined with the fact that you actually have to keep track of your health and other resources, makes for Crisol: Theater of Idols feeling like a classic style first-person game. This isn’t Call of Duty where your health regenerates and they throw ammo in the hundreds your way.

The various weapons in the game, at least the ones I played with are a pistol, a shotgun, and a sniper rifle. Each one is good for certain situations. Like the sniper rifle, you get about halfway through the level that I played, and it helped when there were ranged enemies shooting at you while Dolores, the invincible robotic boss, was chasing you. The gunplay was sufficient and felt weighty with each option.

All of the atmosphere and stylings of the game add together for a dream-like experience. At points it’s beautiful, at other points its a nightmare. For a debut game from Vermila Studios, this is a fantastic start from what I got to play. The only thing I would change about the game would be the movement speed. At points, it felt like the movement was purposefully slow for dramatic effect, especially when an enemy is chasing after you. However, that’s a small quibble for a game that hopefully continues the atmosphere and gameplay through the entire thing.

Crisol: Theater of Idols is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam on February 20th, 2026. They did say that they’re working on making the game Steam Deck verified as well, so that’ll be an option for players. It’s $17.99 for the PS5 and Xbox, and PC. There’s also a 10 percent launch discount on PC via Steam for a short time.

I was enthralled with Crisol: Theater of Idols from the extended demo I played, and I’m excited to see how the game looks when it’s fully available on February 10th.

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