World War 1 survival horror Conscript gets a 'huge' update that adds a hardcore mode, redesigned levels, new items and gear, and much more

World War 1 survival horror Conscript was one of the bigger surprises of last year, with its unvarnished depiction of a French soldier's journey through the battle of Verdun thoroughly impressing reviewer Alexander Chatziioannou. "Every aspect of the game feels meticulously crafted to convey the absurdity and depravity of war," he wrote in his Conscript review. "For sheer, despair-inducing darkness, no game in recent memory captures the torment humanity can inflict upon itself quite like Conscript."

Alexander awarded Conscript a highly respectable score of 83, but it seems developer Jordan Mochi wasn't satisfied with the version that launched last July. Since then, Mochi has been working on a massive update to Conscript, one that extensively reworks many aspects of the experience—including the name, as it's now called Conscript: Director's Cut.

"I've spent a lot of time since release closely monitoring feedback from reviews and have been working on a massive QOL & accessibility expansion update for Conscript over the past year," Mochi wrote in a Steam post. "I originally wanted to get another patch out closer to launch, but it just kept getting bigger and bigger so I decided to just roll it all into one huge update."

'Huge' is an appropriate description. The headline feature is a new difficulty mode called "Shellshock". This replaces "Veteran" as the hardest difficulty level, bringing faster, deadlier enemies with regenerating health. This can be combined with a 'hardcore' mode that will erase your save file upon death for a truly harrowing experience, though hardcore mode is also available on any difficulty setting.

But perhaps the most important features of the update are the changes and additions it makes to the core experience. Conscript's protagonist Andre can now find multiple new items as he explores the trenches, from a craftsman's kit that increases ammo received from crafting, to a dog collar that stops rats from spawning when held in your inventory. This latter item confused me at first, appearing oddly magical considering Conscript's heavy appeals to authenticity. But it seems inspired by the fact that dogs were used as rat-catchers by the French (and other armies) during the war, which up to now I wasn't aware of. I love it when a game leads me to learn new facts.

Mochi has also adjusted Conscript's combat system to alleviate some frustrations, such as adding the ability to move while aiming, a stagger effect to shotgun blasts, and improved knockback on melee attacks. In addition, the update makes several changes to Conscript's level design, adding several new shortcuts to the map to "help progress flow at a smoother pace".

This is all layered on top of a heap of smaller additions like a late game economy tweak, placeable map markers to help you keep track of where items are located, an improved records screen, and more. "I’d consider this to be the version of the game I’d have released if I had a bit more time to playtest the game thoroughly myself before launch with no pressure and stress," Mochi writes.

To celebrate the launch of the Director's Cut, publisher Team 17 is offering a 66% discount on Conscript, bringing the price down to $/£6.79. I actually picked up a copy myself off the back of that deal, and plan to take Conscript for a spin over the holidays. Will fighting through the horrors of World War 1 make for a good Christmas game? I'll report back in 2026.