Kickstarter Shout-out: Three More First Person Kickstarters Worth Your Time!

I have said in the past that first-person games are not my favorite. Maybe it’s because I have played a majority of games that take place in the third-person, but I never found the controls, combat, and overall experience of a first-person game to be that spectacular. Even games that try and show off that you can play in third-person like Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises, they basically say, “this is what you get for wanting a third-person game. Now get back into that first-person view!” I mean, they probably don’t say that, but still. I don’t hate first-person games since I love Portal 2, and Wolfenstein: The New Order, but it seems like not a whole lot of developers want to do something new with the games in the first-person. Luckily, Kickstarter has recently been kind to me, have given me three different Kickstarter projects that are games taking place in the first-person. We will start with the Kickstarter getting the most attention, since it has been all over the news. I would feel silly if I didn’t talk about it first. Let’s get started!

 

Perception



Like I said, Perception, the story of a blind girl traversing a house to solve a mystery with unknown horrors inside, has been in the news because it had a similar setup to another game called Blind. Luckily, everything has been sorted out, and both games are going to be different enough so you won’t be making comparisons. Anyway, Perception is a first-person horror survival game with a heavy focus on narrative. You will be using echolocation to get a sense of your surroundings, and to find some helpful clues to solve a mystery. Since this is a first-person horror game, of course you know that there will be someone or something that will want to make you stop living.  You will have to balance out the risk of making noise to find clues, but at the same time, making a lot of noise will attract the evil presence in the estate. The story will actually take you through different periods of time, so get ready to have some time traveling inserted into your spooky gaming experience!



Graphically, I like the look of the game. I love the idea of only being able to see the world through echolocation, the sound around you shaping what is inside the room. Though how it shows what items are important, I have no idea. While watching the trailer, I think the game’s atmosphere was rather intense, since the main hero only has her other senses to rely on, and not being able to see or know what might come after you is rather frightening.

I have a lot of faith that Perception will get funded. It has a load of people who worked on the Bioshock and Dead Space franchise, which shows how well the atmosphere pulled me into the trailer. I do have a few concerns, like how are they going to make sure that the game won’t get repetitive, frustrating, and the story won’t go into pretentious territory, making your eyes roll. As of right now, the game’s funding goal is $150K, and as of June 4^th, 2015, it is at over $80K. If you love horror games or narrative experiences like Gone Home, then you will probably want to back this game. Congrats, The Deep End Games, Perception gets my official Kickstarter Shout-out!

(If you want to support this project, go to this link!)

Galaxy Heist



If you are waiting for Star Citizen to actually come out, and are taking a break from Elite: Dangerous, then you should go back Galaxy Heist. This is a multiplayer-focused fps game where you team up with a group of four to five players and get into a spacecraft to fight other teams. Not only can you go into space and go into space combat encounters, but you can also become space pirates! Why do I say that? Well, besides being able to pilot some small drone fighters or take control of turrets, you can board enemy ships and enter some first-person shooter elements!  When you get inside enemy ships, you must take care of the enemies still on board. If you do, you can either destroy the ship, or take it over. Oh, and you can basically shoot the windows to suck the enemies into the vacuum of space. There are also the common elements of character and ship customization.



 

Graphically, I like the look of the game. Sure, there are a lot of dark colors, and some of the early death animations look a little silly, but I think it looks good. If they can capture the grand feeling of space with the intense combat of a shooter like Pay Day 2, then they might have something that is hopefully very satisfying. From the short samples of music I heard, the intense vibe I got from the samples fit the overall experience. I mean, you don’t want something cheerful playing through your ears while your body hurls out into space.

In the end, I really like this project. I don’t normally play or want to check out multiplayer-only games, and I do have some concerns, but I am planning on getting in contact with the developer in the future. If you love space combat games and first-person shooters, but hate a lot of the shenanigans that are in both styles of games, then you should check out Galaxy Heist. Their funding goal is almost $100K, and as of June 4^th, 2015, they have over $6K. Congrats to Space Bear Development, Galaxy Heist gets my official Kickstarter Shout-out!

(If you want to support this project, go to this link!)

 

Shape of the World



Hollow Tree Games’ Shape of the World is a first-person exploratory adventure game that is described to be in the same vein as the experimental games like Flower, Journey, and Proteus. For those that may not be familiar with those three games above, it’s a gaming experience that solely relies on beautiful scenery, gorgeous music, and more about a calming exploratory journey through a world that grows, due to your actions. No fighting, no puzzles, and basically no story. The world grows and changes depending on where you go.



Graphically, this is a very gorgeous game. There are many bright colors, and the minimalist art style really helps make a downright amazing looking package. I also enjoy the fact that it’s a relaxing-looking game. Sometimes, I don’t want to sit down and play a majorly violent game. Sometimes, I just want to sit down and enjoy something calming, with an atmospheric soundtrack, and sink into my chair for a few minutes or hours.



I do have some concerns. While I think the developers know to make this game as stress-free as possible, I hope they don’t try to add in elements to make it livelier than it needs to be. I think that is what hurt games like Entwined, where the fast-paced nature hampered the quiet nature of the game.  If you love games like Flower or Proteus, then you should definitely back this game. For now, it will be on PC and Xbox One. The funding goal is over $60K, and it is currently at over $10K. Congrats, Hollow Tree Games! Shape of the World gets my official Kickstarter Shout-out!

(If you want to support this project, go to this link!)

There you have it. Here are three different first-person video game Kickstarters that do something different. I was going to talk about a fourth Kickstarter, but I wanted to save it for another article.  Hope you enjoyed reading about these Kickstarters, and maybe you will want to be a potential backer for them!