By John Walker on May 26th, 2011 at 12:35 pm.
One of my favourite jokes is making up genres. Generally I pick two or three that seem unlikely to work together, inevitably beginning with “turn-based”, because it’s the unlikeliest approach to many other types. Which makes the description of Dark Scavenger, announced today by Psydra Games, beyond intriguing. They’re calling it a turn-based combat point-and-click adventure. Wuh?
“Players fill the role of a powerful space traveler, guiding the character through hundreds of dramatic scenarios using a dynamic text-based encounter system.”
Huh?
- Forge 100+ unique Weapons from items discovered on your journey.
- Deep, dark fantasy narrative filled with dozens of unique characters!
- Tactical turn-based combat and epic boss battles!
- Experience over six hours of gameplay, encountering beautiful hand-drawn environments and enemies.
- Multiple ways to approach each situation ensures a different experience every playthrough.
Buh?
Oh thank goodness, there’s a video.
Wuh?
26/05/2011 at 12:38 Porkolt says:
Looks like an RPG to me.
26/05/2011 at 12:56 Bhazor says:
Sounds fine to me. It’s been ages since we had a decent JRPG on PC.
Edit: Although this does look pretty terrible to be honest. Why can’t we have nice things?
26/05/2011 at 13:04 rivalin says:
JRPG?
Look more like a late 80′s pc rpg / post-text adventure type game
26/05/2011 at 13:45 manveruppd says:
Yep, RPG. See Mr Findley? That’s what they look like!
26/05/2011 at 16:06 Bret says:
Honestly, this isn’t what you want to be showing.
If this is an RPG, give me guns and conversations any day.
27/05/2011 at 13:26 RegisteredUser says:
Looks terrible +1.
Stuff that makes for a nice blurb does not a nice game make if you can’t deliver it in an awesome format.
26/05/2011 at 12:42 Cradlejoe says:
Looks like a point and click adventure in the same way Windows 7 is a point and click OS
26/05/2011 at 14:23 Harlander says:
Do you mean “entirely, down to the very core of its design”, or am I misreading you here?
26/05/2011 at 15:14 phosgene says:
what is this I don’t even?
26/05/2011 at 15:18 BunnyPuncher says:
I heard that starcraft is a point and click RTS.
26/05/2011 at 12:43 Jumwa says:
That video was a bizarre trip.
Or was that just me?
26/05/2011 at 13:43 JFS says:
It was weird.
26/05/2011 at 12:44 icupnimpn2 says:
That song was kicking. Sounds like the Aquabats!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4tw6vBbwVY
But seriously now. That ally got mauled and the game was just colllld about it.
26/05/2011 at 12:49 Saint_loup says:
I’d rather have a sound-based space cycling simulation with a twist.
26/05/2011 at 12:49 Vexing Vision says:
“Dass Horn, es ist gut!”
I can’t wait to read a WIT or a PC Gamer crapshot about this. It looks hilariously bad.
26/05/2011 at 12:59 lhzr says:
the crapshoot ain’t about bad games. it’s mostly about interesting (bad or good) obscure old games.
26/05/2011 at 13:03 Vexing Vision says:
Not necessarily old games, as far as I know, though they’ve been the most hilarious ones.
Also, I can wait ten years.
26/05/2011 at 12:52 sonofsanta says:
Just another day cruisin’ round in my spaceship with my pals Crossbow Skeletor, Seasick Joker and Alien McFatty.
26/05/2011 at 12:53 Jonathan says:
This just looks like a text adventure with a badly made GUI bolted on.
26/05/2011 at 12:55 thelxr says:
Speaking of rare turn-based combinations, be sure to check out Moonshine Runners from KD-Lab. It’s an old, yet stylish turn-based… racing game.
26/05/2011 at 14:00 Tatourmi says:
These are frankly amazing, there is a ton of excellent turn based racing tabletop games out there!
26/05/2011 at 13:05 Tei says:
This looks horrible, but maybe theres a good game beyond this horrible. I want to subscribe to your newsletter. Looking forward for what the end result play like, but not by much.
26/05/2011 at 13:10 Meat Circus says:
Silly. Silly is good. Warum nicht?
26/05/2011 at 13:10 Lobotomist says:
Not that bad
26/05/2011 at 13:17 JackShandy says:
Well, this is a visual novel with an emphasis on combat. They could have just said that.
Those companions looked absolutely bonkers excellent. I’m interested.
26/05/2011 at 13:31 stone says:
No…
NO…
NO!!
26/05/2011 at 13:38 Tony M says:
“Falsen’s eyes widen as he starts to glow. He is being very powerful right now.”
26/05/2011 at 13:39 Ergates_Antius says:
“Experience over six hours of gameplay” and this is a selling point?
26/05/2011 at 13:52 Vinraith says:
Yeah, that stopped me cold too. It’s a pity, it looks interesting otherwise.
26/05/2011 at 16:33 adonf says:
If the gameplay is horrible, then 6 are always better than 20 hours
26/05/2011 at 13:46 CaspianRoach says:
Thing is with text adventure games, they tend to punish you very hard for very little reason but developer’s evilness and randomness.
You walked 5 meters east? Ha! There was a fiery abyss of death and you died. Restart the game?
26/05/2011 at 14:05 Nevard says:
I’d love to play a turn based FPS
26/05/2011 at 14:18 Vexing Vision says:
Just wait for Frozen Synapse 2 with Point Of View action!
One can dream.
26/05/2011 at 15:21 BunnyPuncher says:
Worms and Hogs of war both come into this category.
26/05/2011 at 16:29 Splynter says:
On PS3 (sorry) Valkyria Chronicles sort of fits the bill. It’s also quite excellent.
26/05/2011 at 19:36 Zenicetus says:
Well, there’s always V.A.T.S. mode in Fallout 3 and New Vegas.
26/05/2011 at 14:05 Old Tom says:
Looks like the FP version of King of Dragon Pass .. now that was a game!
26/05/2011 at 14:25 Matt says:
Dark Scavenger 2: Darkest Scavenger
or
How I Pillaged a Planet in Under Six Hours
26/05/2011 at 14:30 MadTinkerer says:
I get it. It’s a cross between a JRPG and a Fighting Fantasy / Lone Wolf style adventure book. Clever, if slightly goofy-looking.
(Specifically, it’s not like a proper IF-style text adventure because you’re choosing branching options rather than typing in commands. And also not like a classic graphic adventure because you’re choosing pre-set branching options instead of VERBing NOUNs.)
26/05/2011 at 14:35 Berzee says:
I thought more people would think this looks amazing. I think it looks like it could be amazing.
(And even if this implementation isn’t — this genre, then).
26/05/2011 at 14:38 Berzee says:
Look at that face. How can you ignore that face?
26/05/2011 at 15:27 Cinnamon says:
I don’t really know what to think of this game. It looks strangely intriguing like an old game from a company such as Cryo or Silmarils but at the same time it looks a bit of a naff mishmash of hodge podges.
26/05/2011 at 16:18 Michael Hoss says:
I watched the trailer earlier this day. And I thought: Woar. It’s Zork. Just with strange artworks. And with less interaction. And with bad sound. And with even more strange characters. And with… oh wait. It’s not Zork. It’s just some strange game announced in the wrong century. I really love indie-games. But this one looks like… uhm… no.
26/05/2011 at 16:55 mbp says:
I think we need more Turn Based Multiplayer First Person Shooters. That way old timers like me would have a chance against nimble fingered teenagers.
26/05/2011 at 16:56 brulleks says:
I never played it, but wasn’t that Rainy Precipice game based on some US online comic strip which I’d never heard of supposed to be a turn-based combat point-and-click adventure?
26/05/2011 at 18:17 Mr_Hands says:
This looks like something I’d be into. Thanks for the heads up.
26/05/2011 at 20:57 Buttless Boy says:
This looks awesome. Y’all have no taste.
26/05/2011 at 21:16 SpaceAkers says:
No, thank you.
26/05/2011 at 23:34 henben says:
This looks like Strange Adventures In Infinite Space’s sexy big sister.
26/05/2011 at 23:49 JuJuCam says:
Looks like there’s a fun Let’s Play to be had here at least
27/05/2011 at 07:55 Cronstintein says:
Ha, I agree. I’d prefer to hear the story of someone playing this game recounted rather than actually playing it myself.
27/05/2011 at 13:57 somnolentsurfer says:
This doesn’t look a lot of fun. But I always found it a little odd that there haven’t been more games merging adventure puzzles and RPG combat, kind of like the Penny Arcade games, only with more adventure and less tedious combat. Every time I go back to Dreamfall, and being thoroughly mystified by it’s bizarre interaction system. It’s like, “why couldn’t I just use the mouse?”
Give me a story/puzzles in the TLJ world, with the immersive thrill of direct movement control and 3D that Dreamfall had, only let me interact with the world using the mouse like WoW, and give me the tactical combat of something like Dragon Age: Origins. It’d be the best game ever.