Developer Bellular Studios
Publisher Fellow Traveller
Format PC
Origin UK
Release TBA 2022
Recently in these pages - E367, if you're keeping count we featured Inua: A Story of Ice And Time, which used Sir John Franklin's lost expedition to find the Northwest Passage as a jumping-off point to explore the cosmology of the Inuit people who were there long before him. The Pale Beyond uses the same tale as loose inspiration, but stays with the crew. The premise is summed up in a line of an opening poem: "What will ye do, when steel hearts break and courage does abscond?"
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1655216247/articles/t_mm8hS4F1658850592953/5018588181.jpg]
The appeal of adapting Franklin's story is twofold. First, it's a tale that, by dint of the many unknowns surrounding the expedition, provides fertile ground to imagine the potential outcomes. Second, it's a tale of hubris: the idea that such a dangerous place could be charted is built upon an arrogant belief that this world is ours to be conquered; that the extremes of nature can be overcome. Which makes it the perfect scenario for a narrative-led videogame, where our choices determine our path through these lands. Our involvement here is, in itself, an act of hubris: to play is to dare to believe we could have succeeded where Franklin failed.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1655216247/articles/t_mm8hS4F1658850592953/7850556657.jpg]
Well, not quite where, since we're headed south, to the so-called Dead Peninsula. It's a rescue mission involving a single ship, tasked with discovering what happened to another: five years ago, the Viscount and its crew set sail to discover magnetic south, and now the Temperance must succeed where its precursor failed. Either way, it's clear where this tale originated, though it's more likely that the outstanding first series of AMC's The Terror first inspired developer Bellular Studios. A generous chunk of a pre-release build has us wondering if we might indeed have been better at leading this fool's errand than Franklin although we sense (and the developer has since confirmed) that things will, as they did in both Dan Simmons' fictionalised account and its TV adaptation, get bleaker and nastier.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1655216247/articles/t_mm8hS4F1658850592953/5655880585.jpg]
It begins with your first officer Shaw being introduced to Captain Hunt, who asks if you, too, were saltborn or are, in fact, a landlubber. Your choice here - as with determining whether Shaw had a colonial, merchant or criminal background will season dialogue exchanges later, though it's unclear how much effect it has on what you can and can't talk about and who you can make a connection with.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1655216247/articles/t_mm8hS4F1658850592953/0605551558.jpg]
The latter point could be crucial, since not long into the expedition Hunt disappears and you take over. By which stage you'll have already made some key decisions, since your role entails listening to (and acting upon) requests from crew members. For example: the case of a young s...
Publisher Fellow Traveller
Format PC
Origin UK
Release TBA 2022
Recently in these pages - E367, if you're keeping count we featured Inua: A Story of Ice And Time, which used Sir John Franklin's lost expedition to find the Northwest Passage as a jumping-off point to explore the cosmology of the Inuit people who were there long before him. The Pale Beyond uses the same tale as loose inspiration, but stays with the crew. The premise is summed up in a line of an opening poem: "What will ye do, when steel hearts break and courage does abscond?"
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1655216247/articles/t_mm8hS4F1658850592953/5018588181.jpg]
The appeal of adapting Franklin's story is twofold. First, it's a tale that, by dint of the many unknowns surrounding the expedition, provides fertile ground to imagine the potential outcomes. Second, it's a tale of hubris: the idea that such a dangerous place could be charted is built upon an arrogant belief that this world is ours to be conquered; that the extremes of nature can be overcome. Which makes it the perfect scenario for a narrative-led videogame, where our choices determine our path through these lands. Our involvement here is, in itself, an act of hubris: to play is to dare to believe we could have succeeded where Franklin failed.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1655216247/articles/t_mm8hS4F1658850592953/7850556657.jpg]
Well, not quite where, since we're headed south, to the so-called Dead Peninsula. It's a rescue mission involving a single ship, tasked with discovering what happened to another: five years ago, the Viscount and its crew set sail to discover magnetic south, and now the Temperance must succeed where its precursor failed. Either way, it's clear where this tale originated, though it's more likely that the outstanding first series of AMC's The Terror first inspired developer Bellular Studios. A generous chunk of a pre-release build has us wondering if we might indeed have been better at leading this fool's errand than Franklin although we sense (and the developer has since confirmed) that things will, as they did in both Dan Simmons' fictionalised account and its TV adaptation, get bleaker and nastier.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1655216247/articles/t_mm8hS4F1658850592953/5655880585.jpg]
It begins with your first officer Shaw being introduced to Captain Hunt, who asks if you, too, were saltborn or are, in fact, a landlubber. Your choice here - as with determining whether Shaw had a colonial, merchant or criminal background will season dialogue exchanges later, though it's unclear how much effect it has on what you can and can't talk about and who you can make a connection with.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1655216247/articles/t_mm8hS4F1658850592953/0605551558.jpg]
The latter point could be crucial, since not long into the expedition Hunt disappears and you take over. By which stage you'll have already made some key decisions, since your role entails listening to (and acting upon) requests from crew members. For example: the case of a young s...
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Edge Uk (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 2022