If like us, you remember the excellent Road Rash from your Sega Mega Drive days, you will definitely want to check out this Kickstarter project looking to bring back the thrill of the original and then some.
The project comes from the team at DarkSeas Games, whose website address only points back to Kickstarter so there isn’t a dedicated site we can point you to. It’s also unclear if this is their first project but they do form a team of developers from a great list of other companies such as SEGA, Sony, Bioware, Gameloft, EA, Pyro Studios, Disney Interactive, 2K Sports and Lucasarts which is very promising.
Quoting their project page, Road Redemption takes the motorcycle combat-racing gameplay pioneered by the Road Rash series to the next level. Supported platforms will include Wii U, Windows, Linux and Mac with the ability to use either keyboard & mouse or just a plain old Xbox 360 controller.
We’ve backed this project so we can get our hands on a copy of the game, access to open beta and our name in the hall of fame. The developer’s focus is to improve the melee fighting system by adding counters, parries and more weapons than the previous title, but even with the weakest weapon you can still get the upper-hand by slamming your opponent into oncoming traffic. Interestingly, gun combat will be restricted by making ammo scarce and shooting challenging through not including auto-aim which is something modern gamers are too used to. There is also a push to make Road Redemption challenging, which could be well-received assuming DarkSeas Games pull it off correctly and not make it impossible to complete.
The story will center around playing the role of a felon on parole after eight years in prison. You must rise in the ranks of a motocycle club while discovering some truths that imply other members may be responsible for your jail time; and eventually your progression will allow you to lead the club in a turf-war driven by the drug trade. While I don’t really remember the story behind the original Road Rash, it was the progression of buying faster and more capable motorcycles that had me hooked along with the thrilling gameplay.
My only concern is that the original’s gameplay may feel too arcade-like twenty years on, in a time now where games are built around progression, leveling-up and flashy graphics first. On a positive note, the title is being developed using the Unity 4 game engine, something we’ve been playing around with recently, and that the source code for Road Redemption will be released for everyone to study.
The project is currently at $63,855 towards the $160,000 funding goal and ends in sixteen days. While game will already feature the obligtory multiplayer alongside the single player campaign, it will potentially include a stretch goal for Oculus Rift support – which seems to be standard practise at the moment but is extremely welcome.
So if you’re interested, please head over to the Kickstarter project and Steam Greenlight pages to get backing!
