Just like there are no shortage of games trying to be Dark Souls, you’ll find no one complaining about a shortage of Fallout-inspired clones. While the comparison is thrown around a tad too much, occasionally you see a game that is so vastly different and original that hitching itself to the Fallout name actually does it a disservice.
I believe that’s the case with Crafting Legends’ upcoming RPG Death Trash. Though it does take place in a post-apocalyptic world and focuses on non-linearly navigating through a dark and grimy landscape, the game takes a sharp left turn into some very strange territory once you get past the opening line of their design document.
Filled with improper humor, trash talk, gore, decaying flesh, Lovecraft-esque elder gods, and a fast-paced combat style that looks like a top-down twin stick shooter, I don’t know if I’d use the Fallout comparison the way other writers have. Regardless, it may be just as interesting, considering the weirdness that is already apparent in the game’s early screenshots and sales pitch:
- Generations after the Great Galactic War, civilization rises again on Tauris V and the age-old power struggle of factions about resources, influence and beliefs begins anew. But this time the Ancients are freed from their shackles and the Evergrowing Heart pounds for the Flesh Hive. You are the key to solving or escalating this conflict…
- Use realtime combat, dialogue, item crafting and psi powers to explore and survive this post-apocalyptic mystic world with larger-than-life beings. Choose one character from a diverse selection and customize him or her through stats and making choices. A friend can join anytime for a session of local co-op. The game is built around respecting your time and freedom.
A quick perusal of the developer’s blog reveals many of the smaller details that will be present in the game, such as the ability to carry (and abuse) pets, NPCs that notice where your gun is pointed, and a procedurally generated landscape that is intended to keep the world as natural-feeling as possible. According to the development log, player freedom and choice plays a big part in what they want to accomplish with Death Trash:
- Let the player keep his/her freedom. Most important in the controls: Don’t take them away unless absolutely needed. Make key moments in the story interactable / walkable. No cutscenes. The game should work with multiple control schemes and screen situations. Go to great length to give the player comfort options like pausing anywhere and changing of controls anytime. Give the player things to do. Prepare a world, a setting, and then let him/her loose on that. Present different possibilities for handling problems. Let the world react on player actions, but don’t judge. This does not mean total lack of hints: Show the player what he/she can do.
Naturally, it’s still far too early to pencil in a pre-order, but what Crafting Legends has done so far certainly stands out among the post-apoc crowd. If you feel the same way, you can follow the game’s development on Facebook or through Stephan Hövelbrinks’ Twitter. Though the game isn’t due until “2017 or later”, it will be appearing on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms, with more to possibly follow.