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Hinterland Studio announced, reveals first game 'The Long Dark'
The Long Dark, the first game from newly founded Hinterland Studio, was announced this morning. The studio is being headed by Raphael van Lierop, whose credits include being director on Relic's Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine and narrative director at Ubisoft Montreal on Far Cry 3. Van Lierop was also brought in to put Enemy Front back on track for a Spring 2014 launch. The Long Dark is described as a "more realistic, mature" take on the post-disaster survival simulation. Following a "geomagnetic disaster that has taken the technology grid offline," players take on the role of a bush pilot stranded in the northern wilderness. It'll be a survival story, with "no zombies!" The independent studio also includes veterans from Volition Inc. (Saints Row, Red Faction), BioWare (Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic), Sony Santa Monica (God of War). The Long Dark is being supported by the Canada Media Fund, and a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter is planned for September 16.
Preview: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine
Even at this early point in the game's production, it's probably already clichéd to refer to Relic Entertainment's Warhammer 40,0000: Space Marine as "Gears of Warhammer," but man is it an apt description. Despite its innovative RTS roots (working on the acclaimed Homeworld and Dawn of War series), Relic is diving headfirst into the third-person shooter genre, and all of the conventions are here: Gruff-voiced space marines (literally), big shoulder armor, big guns, huge explosions and production values, and there's even a gosh-darn exploding train. I got to see the game in action for the first time this week at THQ's headquarters in Agoura, California, and while the influences from other shooters are very clear, Relic producer Raphael Van Lierop wants you to know that Space Marine is Relic's big opportunity to step outside the genre they've become known for. "It's about putting our foot down and making a statement," he said. "And saying we're not just really great developers of RTS games, we're great developers of entertainment."%Gallery-99237%
