Saturday, October 26, 2013

The Watchlist: Kromaia

Title: Kromaia
Developer: Kraken Empire
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Releasing 2014
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KROMAIA is a six degrees of freedom adventure shooter which takes action, speed, agility and immersion to a new level. Insane enemy patterns and swarms, giant god-like guardians, ancient temples, contraptions and treasures, visual ecstasy... All in a vast and unexplored universe only ruled by physic laws. What if the coin-op machines golden age started today, adding complex maneuverability abilities, encouraging spatial awareness, as well as an A.I. adapting to the way you play? Here is the chance to know.
Take your common dual stick shooter, take the hectic gameplay and hordes of enemies, place it in expansive worlds filled with intriguing abstract architect, and you'd have Kromaia.
Developed by Kraken Empire and currently seeking support on Indiegogo, Kromaia is a stylish arcade shooter that delivers both challenging frenetic gameplay and a visually exciting experience. Screenshots don't do this game justice. I recently had the opportunity to try a gameplay demo and while I had no idea what to expect going in, I finished the demo extremely satisfying and excited to see how the game will progress. You have a number of ships to choose from, with their own style and weapons. From the standard laser/shotgun blasting ship to the melee-focused/shuriken-throwing variety, each vessel plays differently and is animated with moving parts and other cool details.
The core of the gameplay is the frenetic shooting. Your ship is extremely maneuverable, able to roll and strafe with ease, and you need such agility to evade the moving hazards and dozens of enemies across each world. The battles shift from tight trench runs through tunnels and past rotating spikes to open shootouts with enemy ships while avoiding asteroids in an instant and you have to be adapt in an instant. The levels are huge and filled with an abstract mix of pillars, mechanical constructs, and other weird structures.
The full game will feature a deep customization mechanic, allowing you to alter everything from the shape and style of thrusters to the behavior and damage of your projectiles or even design and share your own enemies and bosses, as well as adaptive enemy AI that changes to counter your behavior. You can support Kromaia on Indiegogo and vote for the game on Steam Greenlight.

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