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Feature: Living for the week
How sci-fi game worlds take on capitalist promises of success
Since 1984’s Elite, and in sci-fi before it, space has promised careers of freedom. Work for yourself, work only when you want to, make your own adventures. For better and for ill, space is sci-fi’s wild west, a lawless frontier to explore and find independence. Our actual future isn't as glamorous, even if those frontier promises are the same ones made by the gig economy.…
Desert Child feels like being an ordinary Joe making ends meet (legally or otherwise) in the offbeat sci-fi world of Cowboy Bebop. In fact, it's launch trailer doubles down on that, riffing directly off the classic anime's opening. Part arcade shooty race 'em up, part life sim, the other (and arguably larger) half of Oscar Brittain's brainchild is spent wandering the streets of its future cities,…
More than anything else, solo dev Oscar Brittain's upcoming sci-fi shooty-racer Desert Child reminds me of Cinemaware's ancient DOS and Amiga games. It's one thing to present a racing career as a series of circuits with nothing of note in-between, but I'd say it's far more interesting to portray the whole thing as a rags-to-riches cinematic story. Desert Child is stylish, self-assured and packed with…
Here’s something to mollify the ceaseless march towards decrepitude. Desert Child [itch.io page] is a stylish sidescrolling shooter where you ride a hoverbike across the sandy remains of a half-deserted earth in an attempt to escape the planet and fulfill your racing dreams on Mars. You need $500 to get a ticket and you’ll need to keep your bike in good working nick and your…
