The first episode (Oxygen) opens with a cut-scene flashback of the player being captured by the cyborgs. The player is imprisoned in the asteroid mining colony. The player finds a multi-tool (a Sci-Fi Swiss army knife) and an AI suit, as well as a note containing key information about the mines and the cyborgs running them.
The player must then explore the prison, destroy all of the cyborgs, free all of the humans, destroy the prison itself and escape on a cyborgs ship. Bonuses are achieved for finding secrets and intelligence that the human fleet can use against the cyborgs.
This is not a pure shooter game; the player has no weapons that will destroy a cyborg at any time during the game. The player can and will need to shoot various fast-moving bots (i.e.: creeping spiders and flying drones) as well as stationary turrets and cameras. The player must also use stealth to avoid detection and devise traps to destroy any cyborgs that get in the way of achieving mission success. Some examples of traps include:
The game uses different environments to develop suspense to keep the player on edge for significant periods, provide bursts of action through attacks and chases and give some interim quiet periods while interacting with colonists or the suit AI. For example, because the cyborgs are metallic and many level materials are rock or metal, the player can hear the cyborgs approaching from quite a distance. This increasing noise will either drive the player to complete their current tasks quickly or to flee for cover, hopefully ‘sending the hackles up’ on the backs of their necks.
The game is a closed, fixed, pre-created universe set in multiple locations. Gameplay is semi-linear, so the player can complete tasks in a semi-random order, but always has a fixed set of obvious goals and a clear direction in which to proceed.
Players can go almost anywhere in the game at almost any time. Some areas will remain locked (or blocked by enemies) until earlier objectives are completed. The primary objectives are to locate and destroy cyborgs and to locate and rescue humans. Cyborgs cannot be destroyed by the player’s weapons, so traps must be devised using the available environment. Humans will not assist the player since they are too scared, too weak to move about or unable to fit into hiding places, but may provide the player with clues or small rewards when rescued.
Our first interview about Oxygen was featured on Twitch TV and the 4 Guys with Quarters team's channel: Twitch.tv. We had lots of fun chatting with the guys about game development, Oxygen's plans and the future of video games in general.
We did an interview with Jimmy Donnellan over at Cultured Vultures. You can read it now.
We did an interview with The Gaming Ground over the weekend. Check it out on their site now.
We've just posted our second teaser trailer for Oxygen to YouTube and attached it to our IndieDB game page. In addition, we've added over a dozen new...