ExeKiller

 You people venerate savagery, and you will die- savagely!

I have a lot of respect for indie games, and not just the one's that catch my attention as games-to-play either, I really do. Beyond the technical aspect of sitting down and making an interesting video game with a group of, usually, enthusiasts and no huge company behind you is already commendable, but I just fall over for the bravery it takes to put one's own work out like that for everyone to see. To take that risk, put yourself on the line, and slap it on the internet, it takes crazy gallons worth of guts. Even more so when the game we're talking about seems to be, internationally or otherwise, placing itself alongside of the most high profile screw-up games in video game history. A game that cost hundreds of millions, and you're just going to make an indie game in a world that seems to vaguely lean on that image. Thems some real balls friend, and I appreciate them.

Okay, so maybe it's unfair to look at ExeKiller and say ""So you made your own Cyberpunk, did you?" 'cause, I mean- it's not like CD Projekt Red have a trademark on Cyberpunk, now do they? Actually, yes they probably do, what a stupid idea to call the franchise after the name of the genre. (No offence Mike Pondsmith, who definitely isn't reading this but I'm still going to exude non-offensive vibes from this blog) Rather, there can be more than one game who dives into the veritable visual ocean of Cyberpunk genre clichés, it's a wide ocean after all. And does the fact that both of these games have clear Bladerunner inspirations lend credence to the comparisons? Of course. But, we are talking about a AAA game against an Indie one so... you know, I'm just gonna say it: this feels like indie Cyberpunk. But... maybe that'll turn out for the best.

Here me out. What was the biggest problem with Cyberpunk? Well, I'd say it was overambition. These guys got one smash hit game out and suddenly decided they were the single greatest development team on the planet and were going to singlehandedly revolutionise genres much larger than them and helmed by other developers who are bigger than them. It was always going to be a bit of a mess and thus is the hubris that can come when your self image is bolstered by the plastered outward mug of a recently mega successful corporation. You lose the ability to look objectively at yourself and act with any modicum of rationale. There's no way for an Indie studio to get lost in themselves like that, (they can get lost in a bunch of other ways, but not that specific way) so maybe they'll have a better shot at creating a game which captures the feel of being an insignificant cog in a mega Corp funded machine.

And that is certainly the premise I seem to feel emanating from the reveal of this ExeKiller game, right from the getgo. And to be honest when I say this game is inspired by Bladerunner, it's actually much closer to the "World on the brink of extinction" side of that inspirational trail rather than the "technologically repressed mega future" angle. (There's your Cyberpunk distinction right there.) Set in a post apocalyptic world with whole heaps of red sand everywhere, ExeKiller tells the story of a dystopia roaming bounty hunter in the techno-future deciding the rule of law at the end of a loaded gun. There are cowboy outfits, flying cars, retro-futurism, stealth, and at least one line of dialogue that seems to have been affectionately lifted from The Mandalorian. And for a simple first trailer, it all looks shockingly good.

I'm being serious, judging purely from this introduction trailer, which is clearly made up of mostly (if not entirely) mock-up gameplay, these indie developers have a really strong vision they're shooting to nail down that will really rock if they can cut it. There's some high octane first person shooting with cinematic slow down effects and a gritty weight to the movement suite, bounty chases right out of that Prey 2 trailer Bethesda teased us all with in the far distant past, and even a little bit of car based shooting. Not to mention that the visual artists have done a great job in establishing a city-buried-in-sand environment to house this art-deco futurist architecture which really drums up images of duels at noon, blazing off in the sunset and other such wild west clichés that I'm sure the team were going for.  

Paradark Studio, who are the people claiming these intriguing little game trailer, seem to be a brand new studio right out of Poland (Uh oh, hope they're not CDPR's neighbours or this relationship could get complicated) and I have to say I'm routing for their first game a lot more than I would have expected to. I mean that whilst baring in mind that there isn't any game right now, which brings me back to the Cyberpunk comparisons a little bit because this was more or less the same sort of situation we were all in back when that big gameplay reveal dropped. Except I have a bit more hope here. That hope is, however, admittedly rather blind. I can't seem to find anything on the studio regarding the team's pedigree and they haven't put out any other game before, but after this trailer I can at least say they've got good visual designers and animators aboard. Whether they can actually make that game a thing, is less clear.

But I could easily just ignore the boring little logistics behind the nitty gritty of this game and just bask in something novel- a wild west future game; how cool. I adore Red Dead Redemption, and I have a soft spot for some of the more inventive westerns out there, so this title just snuck into my heart before I knew what was up. The feeling of untamed wilderness lashed by morale ambiguity and ruled by man unleashed, it slides into the naked Cyberpunk spotlight so beautifully it's a wonder that there aren't more crossovers of the genres. In fact, one might call these genre's distant cousins of one another, with this game being something of a family reunion. It tickles me to look at this game, which is certainly more than I should be feeling for an indie game and especially one of this style. Gods, look at me. Getting all flustered like a schoolgirl again, handily forgetting the last time my heart was shattered. You'd a thought I'd grown up by now!

I have to say, trying to keep atop of the gaming world is getting harder and harder with all these exciting new titles landing day-by-day; I'm still trying to wrap my head around Baldur's Gate III Patch 6 and suddenly my stupid Steam wishlist is breaking 150 again, all because of cool little indie nuggets like this. It's a good problem to have though, to be constantly seeing bright little stars of ideas shining through and grabbing your attention, it reminds us that though it may not look it, there are still sectors of the industry that can be fresh and still excite, and we're not stuck with the stodgy mainstays begging for something different and new. So I hope the best for this team, and even more for their game, and hope that it resembles even half the amount of promise that trailer exhibits.