We love adventures here at MercurySteam. And we love shooters too. Oh, how we love them… Thus, when the time came to decide on the next game we wanted to make, we had this seminal idea of merging the narrative components of the classic, gritty adventures we grew up with. We were fascinated by films like “The Dirty Dozen,” “Seven Samurai” or “Serenity,” where an unseemly band of castaways raised against tyranny, and the direct, honest fun of shooter games. And so, an epic sci-fi adventure was born: Raiders of the Broken Planet, available now on Xbox One and Windows 10 as an Xbox Play Anywhere title — buy once and play it on both console and PC.
At the very beginning, we asked ourselves, “Does the world need another shooter?” And our sincere answer was “Yes!” But it needed to be innovative if it was to succeed, and it needed to be damn fun!
Raiders of the Broken Planet is our own take on the shooter genre. While prototyping the cooperative campaign and working on the enemy IA, we put a lot of thought into how the enemy would behave. What was their motivation based on their lore? How would that reflect on the gameplay mechanics? Putting ourselves in the enemy’s mindset, we realized it would be a lot of fan to play the bad guys’ side, and thus The Antagonist figure was born. Raiders became a 4 vs 1 counter-operative game, and that truly made the difference.
Okay, so we had the concept. But then we needed to populate it with an interesting cast of characters. The Raiders themselves had to be iconic, visually stunning and charismatic, adding to the narrative with their unique personalities and aesthetic impact. We are fortunate to count some of the best artists and designers in the business among our team, and the concepts and ideas they came back with were nothing short of mind-blowing.
There was Harec, the Raider’s reluctant leader, a pacifist forced to take arms and seek vengeance against the humans who invaded his planet and slaughtered his people. We also have Alicia, a girl who should have been broken by her past, but who is strong enough to fight back with teeth and nails (and shotguns). Konstantine, a cyborg discarded by his former masters only because he refused to forsake his humanity. And, of course, Lycus; the eternal warrior. Some claim he has taken part on old Earth’s most bloody battles since the XIX Century, but how could that be even possible, unless he has made a pact with some devil? Maybe he just loves war too much, and is too stubborn to die.
Shae, Hans, Mikah, Ginebra… You will soon learn of the rest of the Raiders, their unique abilities, and how they came to join Harec’s colorful band of misfits.
Humankind arrived in force at the Broken Planet in a greed-fueled quest for Aleph, the most powerful energy known in the galaxy that can only be found there. Soon enough, they ravaged the already fragile world and enslaved or butchered its peaceful inhabitants. Raising against the Earthling oppression, Harec is set to recruit a group of mercenaries, defectors and malcontents to form his Raiders and wage a counter-operative war against the invaders. But there’s more to this conflict that meets the eye, as a devilish power seem to be opposing the Raiders, stealing their appearances and seeking to foul their efforts… Who is this mysterious Antagonist and what agenda is it pursuing?
This is the setting for our “4 divided by 1” gameplay concept. Having your games invaded by a living, breathing player whose only purpose is to troll your game and defeat you before you reach mission success adds an unpredictable fun component to your cooperative games. As the Antagonist, you get to experience Raiders of the Broken Planet campaigns from the enemy’s point of view. Cooperative play and tactically choosing the best Raider team and the most optimal build for each character in every mission is at the game’s heart, but every so often it feels so good to play the bad guy under the Uras-Beherit judgement, a dark deep-space demon, and just watch how the Raider’s plans fall apart under your well-laid ambushes and subversive tactics.
So, this is our game. But we want it to be your game too. Raiders of the Broken Planet will continue to grow, as we plan to add a ton of new content, missions and characters over the next weeks and months, and the feedback we gather from the fans will have a direct impact over the game’s future. In the same vein, we have made the compromise to be fair to our audience with our business model. Raiders of the Broken Planet is a Triple A game in look and content, but it is an indie development at its heart. We want as many people as possible to play the game, and then decide how much they want to invest in it.
Raiders’ Prologue, including two lengthy missions, is free to play — and always will be. At the same time as the Prologue goes live on September 22, the first campaign, Alien Myths, will be available for purchase. We have three more campaigns coming out shortly after, Wardog Fury, Hades Betrayal and Council Apocalypse, packed with new missions, characters and weapons that will also be available for purchase.
Thanks for reading and please keep an eye out on the website for more information, or feel free to drop us a line on Twitter and Facebook. We look forward to meeting you at the Broken Planet!
