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Written by Dustin Murphy
The world when it comes to an end is something terrifying to think about. Terrifying enough that the Hero (you) are accompanied by your four legged American Staffordshire Terrier companion named Bounder. Even with the loyalty, love, and obsession that Bounder has for the Hero, the world isn’t as beautiful as one would think. The world has been devastated by a mysterious occurrence called ‘The Rift’. This anomaly was not caused by science, testing by the military, or even some magic gone wrong; it just happened.
The effects of the Rift are not limited in Earth’s distraught appearance, but instead, humanity itself has taken a twisted turn by mutating into horrific creatures called ‘Feeders’. Through the perilous journey across the wasteland that was once a very populated Earth, players must use their cunning, wits, survival instincts, and even their ability to explore the world to survive. With the world constantly changing around you, the threat for surviva going all, but wrong – one question remains; what the Hell do you do with yourself? Survive with your canine companion Bounder and attempt to close the Rift to save what may or may not be left of the world around you. To save those men, women, and even children that haven’t changed into always hungering Feeders.
Even with Feeders around the corner, there’s something special for people who decide to back the game. A copy of the game as well as other goodies to come forth. So what can you expect? With even the minimal amount ($15 CAD), players can expect the first episode of the game, but the more you donate – the more you get. The fortunate side is for many, the game will be launching across several places; Steam, The Humble Store, and PlayStation Network. The nice part? Backers can choose the platform of their choice; this also means Early Access. With the game being a work in progress, the team over at Pyroclastic Games the game will release with three to four releases through the games cycle of development. This means that you, the backers, will get to push through the game and stress test the majority of it as the game moves towards the final release version.
What does this mean? Almost no spoilers, which leaves Early Access users something they can look forwards to without having had it ruined for them. This also means that the game will have what you can consider private testing, which means the game will get more updates than it would if it were bought through Steam’s Early Access system. This also mean that the game will have nothing held back from the private testers and will allow them to find every bug, every hiccup, and even suggest changes to be made for ease of access. This also means those that do private test and Early Access get to experience the games amazing soundtrack that comprises of industrial tracks to the beautiful orchestral tracks we would expect out of same games, clear down to power, emotional, and compelling acoustic pieces that are witnessed in the games trailer (below); all in mp3 format. Let alone will you get to have the music on hand, but backers can also sport the Ashen Rift patch on their favorite hoodie, coat, beanie, hat, and or even their favorite coat and have it to match their Ashen Rift t-shirt (sizes range from XS to XXL in both men or women’s fit).
What else is there? The Art of the Ashen Rift Book. This book will be comprised of the best conceptual pieces for the game that range from 2D, 3D, photographic, environmental, and even graphic art form. All these pieces are from the games development, but also gives an idea of how the team came up with the world that gamers will visit. The artbook will be in both digital and physical format depending on the amount that players actually back to the game itself. So what can you do to back this game? Head over to the Ashen Rift Kickstarter page started by developer Barry Collins and throw down a few backs to help this title reach its goals and head for launch.
With Kickstarter coming a huge place for games, books, movies, and other platforms; do you think this is something games should turn to for indie developers and small teams who do not have the funding from big name publishers? What’s your thoughts on this matter? Let us know what you think about games going to Kickstarter or Ashen Rift itself!
Copyright Notice: Please note that the pictures and the video used are copyrighted and owned by Pyroclastic Games.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, MMO’s, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable and can’t be softened by even the biggest names in the gaming industry. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. To follow Dustin, hit him up on Twitter over at @GamingAnomaly, find him on his Google+. Wanna game with him? You can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.