The lucrative massively multiplayer online role playing game market is preparing to welcome a nightmarish visitor, in the form of Gravity Interactive’s Requiem: Bloodymare.

Many companies have tried to dethrone Blizzard’s World of Warcraft from gamers’ preferences, but so far the 9.3 million registered WoW players stand proof that their efforts resulted in sounding failures. Was it the fact that WoW was the first true MMO? Was it that it benefited from the magic of its predecessor, Warcraft?

Probably both, but Gravity Interactive thinks it has finally discovered what it takes to beat WoW: blood. Lots of it. In your face.

The company’s new MMORPG, kindly dubbed Requiem: Bloodymare, will debut early this year only in the US and will try to steer you away from the sunny lands of Azeroth to the dark, mysterious and nightmares-infested land of Ethegia.

A land where you shoot first and ask questions later, but where mastering black magic and voodoo dolls is also a prerequisite for survival. “Players take on the role of the Temperions, beings created through genetic engineering and arcane rites to engage in bloody combat with the walking nightmares stalking the land.”

The game will be powered by the Havok engine and will feature some of the bloodiest battles ever witnessed in a MMO, between “horribly mutated monsters” and the players.

“We’ve dedicated more than four years of intense development to be sure Requiem: Bloodymare really brings something unique in the MMO market,” Peter Kang, CEO, Gravity Interactive, said. “We very consciously decided when we started the project that we wanted to diversify our offering to include much more than the cute, anime inspired gameplay of our previous hits. Requiem isn’t a game for kids; this is for mature players that are looking for hardcore content that conjures up their deepest nightmares and fears.”

Requiem: Bloodymare appears to draw its inspiration from predecessors like Obscure, Silent Hill, Jericho or even FEAR, where the supernatural intertwines with the daily routine. But to set itself apart from other games (including MMOs) Requiem: Bloodymare will use several new game mechanics, like the DNA System and the Beast Possession System. Players will use genetic engineering to modify their DNA to obtain characteristics and abilities nature never intended. The mystic arts will enable players to possess and transform into different bestial beings with extraordinary abilities.