République, the AAA game originally for iOS but now received special PC and Mac editions, will be officially funded at 6.oopm EST today. As the time wore down, the team still needed at least $75,000 more to go with just less than 48 hours. It seemed many times that the game would not get funded, but thanks with some great advertising by the community, the Camouflaj team, and other video game news reporting, the Camouflaj team will be developing an amazing game that is backed by more than ten thousand people.
There have been plenty of new updates from the team, one of which they have decided to create a special edition just for PC and Mac. That idea undoubtedly brought more people to back the Kickstarter project. Other news includes introducing two well-known voice actors David Hayter, the voice of Solid Snake and Naked Snake in Metal Gear as well as the voice of the male Jedi knight class in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Jennifer Hale, the female voice to many characters which included but are not limited to Bastila Shan from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dr. Naomi Hunter in Metal Gear Solid, Dynaheir, Liia J, Serving Wench in Baldur’s Gate, and most recently being released next week, Leah from Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo III.
Also Camouflaj has updated their tier rewards to include this brand new one:
Pledge $40 or more
439 Backers
DIGITAL COMBO EDITION+ : République for both iOS and PC/Mac, digital soundtrack and documentary series.
Estimated Delivery: Sep 2013
Congratulations to the Camouflaj team for making their Kickstarter goal. If you would like to donate to or even just take a look at this awesome project, you may do so here. They will also be having a livestream countdown starting at 3pm EST till the ending time of 6pm. LINK: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/republique
It’s just been two weeks since I actually started this blog and I’m up to 80 hits already. Thanks to those that check back occasionally. As I continue writing and reporting on my sports teams and video game news I find intriguing, I try to find games that may not be getting the worthwhile attention they deserve and games I think are enjoyable.
I just recently bought my iPad 3 online. It’s a surprise if you know me, because I actually truly hate Apple. Each Apple product I have ever bought has always had a problem one way or another. Between an iPod (4th, 5th, and 6th editions) and a Macbook Pro 4, I have become fed up with Apple and the amount of lemons I have bought from them. However regardless of my feelings for them at the moment, I have opted to try the Apple iPad 3 in hopes that this time maybe it’ll be different. Since purchasing my iPad 3 and as I await for its arrival, I am constantly searching for games exclusively (unfortunately since I’m a PC gamer) for iOS. Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Recollections and Cipher Prime’s Pulse are a couple games I’m excited about trying (though I have enjoyed AC Recollections on my friend’s iPhone) on my new iPad 3. Through my extreme Kickstarter exploration the past few weeks, after finding pages for Auditorium 2: Duet and The Banner Saga, I am very pleased to find a new little obsession in the form of an iOS touchscreen-based game by Camouflaj and Logan called République.
First a bit about the developers. Camouflaj is a group of innovative developers, veteran developers at that, who have worked on projects like Halo, Infamous, F.E.A.R. and Metal Gear Solid. Camouflaj is based in Seattle, Washington. Logan is a small independent production house that is headed by Alexei Tylevich. The company is best known for its Apple iPod ads and television spot for Skyrim.
Onto the game: République highlights a young woman named Hope, who is stuck in a totalitarian state. The trailer details the protagonist contacting you using a stolen phone. She asks for your help against the totalitarian state that has taken her captive.
Camouflaj and Logan’s ideas for this game wish to change the way people view their phones and provide another depth into the gaming world. Not only do they want to push the graphics on mobile devices to the best of their ability, they wish to develop a game that focuses on a thrilling game that does not center around killing your opponents. Instead you’re thrown into a highly scrutinized world with a female lead that for once is not sexualized in order to grab your attention of the game. No, this game is much more than those mainstream attention-claiming tactics. République takes elements from the dystopian novel by George Orwell, 1984. Each scene you hold Hope’s life in your hands, trying to help her escape by perhaps turning off lights or summoning an elevator with a tap of your finger.
The main goals for the project are:
4-6 hour campaign
“Stealth Survival” hybrid genre
Metroidvania exploration & 3D map mode
Branching, gripping, pull-no-punches story
Full voiceovers
Real-time cinematics
However, with 100% or more funding from Kickstarter, the prospect of building a bigger game with even expanded features would come to fruition. I actually found this project a few weeks ago, before I even thought to buy the iPad 3. Even with it being only for iOS, as an Android and Windows user, I thoroughly would and have supported this project so it could come become another reality gamers can deeply immerse themselves in. With just the few screenshots and the trailer, I’m already hooked and enthusiastic with the implementation of such innovative ideas to mobile devices even if it may not port to Android.
Please check out their Kickstarter page. The rewards are also pretty amazing. Below you’ll find some screenshots of the collector’s edition which completely reeled me in (I have soft spot of leather bound journals very similar to the one shown in the images – I got to write my creative thoughts somewhere). Besides who doesn’t love the idea of a book hollowed out in order to hold valuables. But seriously, this game looks and sounds like a hidden gem. If this interests you (fund or no fund), please tweet, link, anything to give the company and its game some advertisement. They have at least a solid 1760 backers already from Kickstarter, but only $71,594 out of their $500,000 fund goal with only 24 days left.
According to Ryan Payton, “We estimate that République will cost north of $1 million to complete. After months of meetings and due diligence, we believe that we can raise the necessary additional funds to complete République from potential outside investors, but there is some risk that our efforts will be unsuccessful. Before we enter into any financial agreements, we want to prove through Kickstarter that there is a market for a serious AAA mobile game. While we may eventually have to share future profits from the game in order to finance development costs, we have no intention of sacrificing quality, creative control or IP ownership.
In the very happy event that we exceed our $500,000 Kickstarter goal, this will grant us more financial freedom and will allow us to build an even better game. We will also consider the idea of developing République for other platforms, however this is not a decision we take lightly, as we firmly believe in developing our games to the strengths of each platform.”
Endless Raining 