Gaming
Visit a Claymation-Esque Cold-War Germany in Trüberbrook
Everyone has an idea for a Kickstarter campaign: a resurrected cult classic TV show, a new game console, a morbidly hilarious card game. You name it, someone’s probably already thought of it and put it on the site. But, occasionally, someone comes up with a unique idea that, while novel, is still familiar in a good way. That’s what gamers will get with Trüberbrook.
According to the campaign page, Trüberbrook is a “sci-fi-mystery graphic adventure” that takes place in the remote, 1960s cold-war Germanic village of Trüberbrook. Players will take the role of Hans Tannhauser as they explore the village after winning a trip to the town in a lottery, but they will quickly discover not everything is as it seems and what started as a vacation will end in a frantic race to save the world.
The studio, btf, has taken inspiration from numerous sources. The gameplay is reminiscent of old point and click games such as Monkey Island, while the story takes cues from The X-Files, Stranger Things, Star Trek, and Twin Peaks. But, the graphics are by far the most impressive aspect of the game; I’m not saying the story is bad, just that art style is drop dead gorgeous. The game is a mix of CG graphics made to look like claymation puppets superimposed on handmade sets digitized into the game via photogrammetry. The end result is a visually stunning and beautiful game world that doesn’t look like anything any gamer has ever seen before; even fully (and amazingly) claymation-animated games such as Armikrog pale in comparison to Trüberbrook. Oh, and the game will be available in both English and German/Deutsch.
As with most Kickstarter campaigns, Trüberbrook comes with a bevy of backer tiers and rewards. Rewards start as low as €5 ($5.88) with an exclusive digital wallpaper, but gamers who want the game need to pledge at least €25 ($29.38). The highest tier, €3,000 ($3,525.87), contains a unique scenery model used in the game, five Kickstarter exclusive game boxes that contain Steam keys, five early access Steam keys, two signed and numbered printed artbooks, five digital artbooks, five digital soundtracks, five sets of digital wallpapers, credit as an Associate Producer, and the placement of the backer’s name in a prominent spot in the game.
If Trüberbrook‘s gameplay and story is half as engrossing as its art style, the game just might be a contender for game of the year when it releases in 2018.
New World Interactive, the developer of the Insurgency series of tactical first-person shooters, has laid off an unknown number of employees as part of Embracer Group’s comprehensive restructuring plan.
Saber Interactive, which acquired New World in 2020, told Eurogamer that the studio had not closed. However, it confirmed an unknown number of layoffs.
Embracer says it is “actively working to fill existing open roles” with impacted employees and will provide severance packages. “Saber also assures that development will continue on Insurgency: Sandstorm, as well as on unannounced future projects,” it said.
Over 900 employees were laid off in an “agonizing” but “necessary” process. As always, we hope all victims recover.
Sony wants non-console owners to access its content beyond its PlayStation-walled garden. This strategy has been slowly implemented: the company has commissioned TV and movie adaptations of its biggest franchises, ported select software to the PC, and launched a mobile gaming division.
In an interview with Nikkei, head Hideaki Nishino explained how this strategy can boost console sales: We want to use movies and dramas to get non-gamers to try PlayStation games. Sales of The Last of Us increased during the live-action drama.
When HBO’s adaptation aired, our The Last of Us content skyrocketed, so we can understand its impact. As a PlayStation fan site, we support this strategy because we want to reach as many people as possible, so if Sony can appeal to non-console owners, that’s a win-win.
More PlayStation users is better, in our opinion.
PowerWash Simulator is one of this month’s PS Plus Essentials, but before you start scrubbing, check out the PS Store. The game has been well supported on PS5 and PS4 with free DLC packs based on Square Enix titles since its release at the start of the year.
Free Final Fantasy VII and Tomb Raider expansions let you clean Croft Manor and Seventh Heaven. The free DLC packs add 10 levels, and the paid ones add more.
Two more Back to the Future and SpongeBob SquarePants expansions cost £6.49 or $7.99 each. You can then scrub the Bikini Bottom and the DeLorean.
The Midgar Special Pack for PowerWash Simulator was another reason to use the cleaning kit. “It doesn’t add much, but getting close to FF7’s props and environments is fun. It offers a fresh take on the beloved title that will please both sides of this collaboration.”
Have you tried the latest PS Plus Essential game?
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