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Varia Games mixes Metroid, Crysis to create Reven, now on Kickstarter
When the Reven virus leads to people disappearing from space station Nexum, hero SyRek swoops in to cure the virus - by shooting the infected, mutated population in the face. We're just gonna say it: people in power armor don't make good doctors. They do, however, make good action game stars, provided the game they star in gets the $18,000 funding it needs from Kickstarter. Reven by Varia Games is inspired by shooter/platformer games like Metroid and Mega Man, while incorporating player customization elements seen in Crysis and Deus Ex. Players explore the hostile world of XR-Keres as SyRek, blowing up monsters and discovering ancient secrets along the way. SyRek will also gain access to new weapons, suits and powers as his journey progresses, and players can customize his attributes using the game's Energy Divergence Module (EDM). The EDM works by giving SyRek a set number of points to be spent in the areas of Mobility, Shield, Sensors and Weapon. Want to be quick and nimble? Dump your points into Mobility, but realize you won't be as strong or be able to take as much damage. The game also features a mission creator for players who want to build their own stories and levels. Reven's inspiration by the Metroid series seems more apparent the more we look at it - SyRek goes dungeon-crawling in 2D, gains new abilities by collecting power cores, and even has a cannon where an arm would be. He's not a girl though, so no infamous surprise ending. The game is expected to release on Wii U, PC, Linux and Mac, though when it will be released depends on the amount funded. At the minimum level of $18,000, the Kickstarter page notes that it could take up to two years to finish development, "possibly a little longer." At $37,000, the game will be ready "much sooner than expected," though no date more specific was mentioned. [Thanks, John!]
