Russian studio Ice-Pick Lodge is hoping to create something spectacularly bizarre with its so-called ”survival open-world adventure game” Pathologic, a remake of its 2005 cult horror.
Ice-Pick is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, and the project has netted $230,000 of a $250,000 goal with 13 days left to go.
As you can see from the trailer above, this isn’t your usual first-person shooter. Pathologic is set over 12 days in a remote town suffering from a mysterious disease, and you play as a Plague Doctor trying to find a cure. The city is open for you to explore, and each new day you’re set various tasks to complete. Fail to do so and the city slowly decays as it becomes infested with sickness, bringing muggers and looters and eventually infecting your hero himself.
Sounds jolly. The nightmarish, Hieronymous Bosch-like world you find yourself in looks beautifully designed and conceived though, and there’s clearly a great deal of invention on display. You’re accompanied on your journey by The Tragedian and The Executor, two bizarre supernatural figures.
”The Tragedian is a platzhalter hero,” explain the developers, ”a shade of what could have been were it not for you; like all mimes, he’s gently compassionate and moderately useless. The Executor is a plaguebringer; if you see him, it means you’ve failed to save someone, yet he also seems to care for you in his own fashion.”
Regardless of whether Pathologic hits its target, Ice-Pick claims it will be released, but if earned the money will go towards adding more content, and added ”complexity, beauty, and new layers of meaning.” It’s well worth checking out the Kickstarter page, where there’s a tonne of interesting information on the game’s mechanics, world and themes. Pathologic’s campaign runs until October 7.
