Creative Assembly is hiring to produce a tactical shooter
Total Tactics: Warshooter
As much fun as I've been getting out of the Total War: Warhammer games recently, I keep wishing that The Creative Assembly would branch out into other genres again. To this day, Alien: Isolation is one of the most mechanically and thematically exciting survival horror games ever made, and proof that they're a flexible studio. Someone at CA agrees, as a slew of job postings on their careers site include repeated mention of a 'brand-new and exciting First Person Tactical Shooter IP' being produced at their primary studio in Horsham, UK.
Beyond these job postings we have no idea what Creative Assembly have planned, what systems the game is likely to come out for (although it'd be a bit daft not to release on PC in this day and age) or when we'll be seeing anything concrete from it but it's still good to see them branching out again. My thoughts keep coming back to Alien: Isolation, which, under its nigh-perfect movie aesthetics was a game as mechanically clever as they come, as you can see for yourself in AI researcher Tommy Thompson's (slightly spoileriffic) breakdown of its systems below.
All that said, Creative Assembly's attempts to branch out haven't always been so successful and well-received. Back in the era of the original Xbox, they brought us Spartan: Total Warrior, ostensibly a Dynasty Warriors-inspired hack n' slasher that just happened to be the first in its genre where you're more likely to be stunlocked to death than the enemy soldiers. Viking: Battle for Asgard was a bit better, but still felt a little creaky in-between its spectacular setpiece battles.
We'll be keeping an eagle eye on the studio, and hope that they've got some surprises lined up for us next week at E3. Failing that, Warhammer is plenty good to fill the time. Those interested in being more on the history-making than reading side of the equation can always throw your CV at Creative Assembly over here, too.