I'm not the only person who did a bit of a double take when they found out that a new 'PlayerUnknown' title was being issued. I'd imagine that might be due to the fact that, until recently, Brendan Greene (a.k.a PlayerUnkown) was known for creating the second biggest Battle Royale in the world: PUBG. Although things have been tough for the company since the advent, and subsequent domination, of Fortnite, most believed that PUBG would be the kind of bottomless well that would continue to feed that team indefinitely. Why bother make another game ever when you've already peaked in your first outing, right? Valve decided to hang up their game development hat long ago, which they've only hinted at putting back on recently, Epic haven't so much a breathed about 'new development ideas' since 2017, and that illustrious club of 'Winning without ever trying' seemed like the perfect spot for ol' Greene. It would seem that our budding game developer might have a bug he cannot scratch, however, as he is willing to throw himself back into the turmoil of fresh development once again with: Prologue. (Not sure if that's the actual title yet. Sound like things are still being brainstormed.)
Hints first started to pop about Brendan Greene's willingness to seek fresher pastures all the way back in March when it was reported how he was moving on from his cushy 'Director of development' position and onto somewhere new. Specifically, Greene joined a new position within the corporation that bears his own name, PUBG Corp, (Because that's not narcissistic in the slightest) to the newly formed; PUBG Special Projects. The prevailing take-away from this move was that Greene was tired of the world of constant updates and one-up-manship from the 'Battle Royale' world and wanted to abscond to something much slower-paced and lower stakes, although presumably still within the rich PUBG mythos? Although all that is just rumor and speculation, as with many decisions in the gaming world, Greene's reshuffling was heralded by canned PR speak. (He could have been forcibly moved around for all we know.)
For me, though, I'd imagine that the whole 'Cult of persoanlity' thing that PUBG has going for it might have proved a bit trying for the fellow in question. Perhaps that comparison might seem a bit unfair, but it's all I can envision when I think about the way that this entire company, and their flagship game, bears the name of the creator. I feel like that fact alone really detracts from the individual effort that the team put behind each and every game and makes it feel like ol' Brendan here sucks all the air out of the room. I'm sure that's not the intent, but the mere hint of that is sure to weigh on someone eventually and make them seek a change. Perhaps in Brendan's case that change is the pursuit of new ideas and concepts to keep his brand fresh and to justify his name being on the office door.
During the Game Awards we got to see the fruits of Brendan's labours through a short teaser trailer for 'Prologue'. And when I say short I am by no means exaggerating. The trailer itself is perhaps 18 seconds in length, not including the title card, and features a mostly static view throughout it's run time. We see a forest, incredibly indicative of the recent 'Blair Witch' game, before lightning strikes and we hear the bark of a dog. There's your teaser trailer, guys, that's all your getting.
Judging from the aesthetic of the whole ordeal as well as the use of sounds and the handling of the camera, I feel it's safe to say that this title is going for a 'horror' angle, which is a somewhat interesting proposition in and of itself. As I've expressed before and recently, the AAA market has found itself sorely lacking on horror titles of late and so any attempt to fix that void in worthy a little degree of attention at the absolute minimum. Seeing as this is a Horror game from a developer whom we know very little about, however, is even more interesting of an idea; the best ideas can come from those that you least suspect. It will be equally as fun to discover exactly what the team and Mr Greene have learnt from their time supporting PUBG, without having to wrestle with an existing title with a rough base.
I'm being positive though, and we all know that's against my very nature so allow me to settle into a decidedly more British stance of pessimism. The Horror genre is an easy 'go-to' for smaller developers because of the widely spread misconception that it a genre that is easy to make for. However, in truth the subtlety and mastery that goes behind crafting a good horror experience make it one of the most taxing types of games to persue. Succeed and you've crafted a product that can reliably manipulate it's audience, well done, but fail and it tends to end up as a spectacular mess. We've seen nothing out of PUBG as a company besides from their penchant for rough games, and that doesn't exactly inspire confidence moving into this new title. Matters aren't helped by the fact that this title seems to invoke the spirit of 'Blair Witch', which is a title that is widely considered to be 'Okay'. Not really 'aiming for the moon', huh guys?
In truth this trailer has left me with more questions than answers, which can be a good thing if you know what you're doing, or could be the sign of a project that was revealed way too early for it's own good. I don't find myself being excited at the prospect of being teased by a developer who is unproven attempting to ape a notoriously fiddly genre and honestly feel like the team should have held off until they had the ability to share more about the core concepts and systems that are running the game. Plus then there's that title. 'Prologue'? To what; PUBG? In that respect, I suppose we could be delving into the origins of a society that permits regular death games held all over the world, perhaps in a manner similar to the 'Hunger Games' movies, but I'm really grasping at straws here. Playing through a 'Proto-PUBG' style matchup doesn't really sound like the most compelling prospective in the world.
'Prologue' seems to have a very long road ahead of it grabs the hearts of the public, and I honestly feel they may have played this reveal a little too safe for their own good. To score an announcement at an event as grand as the Game Awards is a very big honour, and unless you have something worthwhile to show it might have been better served offering that space to someone hurting for attention right now; like Oddworld's Soulstorm. Although, the intent was to drive up a conversation from as little effort as possible, therefore I suppose the trailer did it's job in that regard. However, jokes on you guys, because I'm only having a monologue with myself because I don't know anyone willing to listen to me talk about games. Sigh.
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