Recently launched on Kickstarter, from the people behind the somewhat difficult 1992 Sega Genesis game Ecco the Dolphin comes The Big Blue, a spiritual sequel of sorts.
Ecco designer Ed Annunziata is helming the project, promising to deliver a game which "will be strikingly beautiful and at the same time mysterious and terrifying."
Described as a "massive adventure game," The Big Blue's defining gameplay elements will be exploration, quests, creature collecting and puzzle solving. Some unique features are also planned:
- All Creatures are controllable
- Control multiple creatures at the same time (like a swarm)
- Aquascape and populate your own small sea
- Breed and multiply creatures to be used for various purposes (like quest assistance)
The project also has some rather lofty stretch goals. At 150% funding, the developers promise to implement a co-operative game mode, and at 200%, they plan to make an MMO. "Think of an aquatic version of [Eve Online] and you’d have a good idea how The Big Blue Online will work."
Provided it hits its funding goal of $665,000, the game is set to launch on April 22, 2014 on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.
The Big Blue, an underwater adventure game [Kickstarter, via MCV]