Sometimes we just don’t want to think when we’re playing video games. We want to play a completely linear plot line, no choices, and witness strong story telling. Then at the end we put the game away forever and say, “gee, that was fun.” Then there comes a game like Project Awakened which completely opposite of anything I just described.
I’ve gone from completely ignorant to instant fan boy for Phosphor Game Studio’s Project Awakened instantly after reading the Kickstarter and watching the video. THIS game. Although it’s still in development, this is possibly the first game I’ve ever seen completely cater the experience to the player and the character they’ve created. Sure, a whole bunch of games allow you to create your character, but this game really asks the question, “Who do you want to be?”
You’ll create your gender, your look, your powers, your weapons, your choice. With an a-la-carte ability system, you’ll never deal with skill trees or be bogged down in a class. There is a plethora of powers and combinations that you can mix and match to make anything from insanely bizarre to perfect fitting for your play style. How about a man who spontaneously combusts at will and touches everyone to incinerate them? That’s a thing. Hell, if you even want to a non-violent hero that just runs fast – go for it!
The story will also depend on your character – you know, the one you created from the ground up. You’ll have an option of what faction you’ll work for out of a whole handful. Will you work for a government cracking down on physical augmentations, corporations that are trying to progress augmentations, rebels fighting against a police state to unlock human potential, and those who think augmentations are the next stage of human evolution.
“We will build a hub-and-spoke game world, where players will explore a rich city environment, and then venture off into more linear storytelling areas that have specific puzzles and combat scenarios that can be approached differently depending on the character. The AI in the game and the world itself will be built in such a way that they will respond to any potential power the player has at their disposal in a realistic environment. Each play through with different characters and different powers will feel different than the last.”
The freedom allowed in Project Awakened is immense. Take your unique character and story through a single player experience OR take your masterpiece over to multiplayer. Can your team of misfits take on the enemy team of misfits? There are so many possibilities with character combinations. Why not use a stealth character to grab a flag then have a ice based character freeze all your foes? Mind, blown. While they haven’t announced all the multiplayer game mods yet they did mention capture the flag which is one of my personal favorites.
There are 28 days left to go on Project Awakened’s Kickstarter with $450,000 to go. They have some pretty sweet incentives for backing them including a $5 discount early bird option. If you can’t tell by my tone in writing this, I’m excited. I’m also really curious how Phosphor Game Studio takes this very ambitious project – I have faith.
