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Harebrained, the studio behind the Shadowrun RPG trilogy and the tactical fight sport Battletech, has introduced the primary venture of its post-Paradox period: Graft, a “post-cyberpunk survival horror RPG” set aboard a dying house station overrun by sticky, fleshy monstrosities.
The setting is vaguely BioShock-ish. The Arc, because it’s identified, was as soon as a technological beacon lighting humanity’s path to the longer term: “a continent-sized station stuffed with biomechanically enhanced residents, all working towards some higher objective misplaced to time.” However after all all the things went sideways, and now right here you might be, one of many few remaining survivors, surrounded by horrors and determined to flee.
The sport world of Graft feels like my type of factor. The Arc is stuffed with “highly effective and unsettling” applied sciences from eons gone, whose secrets and techniques you would possibly suss out in case you can survive lengthy sufficient. There are different survivors as nicely, with whom you may forge “fragile alliances” and perhaps deeper relationships, however keep in mind that they are caught in the identical boat you might be: “Anybody nonetheless dwelling is probably going each harmful and treacherous, and that features you. The alternatives you make will form your journey and determine the fates of these you meet.”
The place it will get actually fascinating is thru the method of grafting: You might have the power to enhance and enhance your physique with “grafts” discovered hidden all through the Arc, or blasted off the our bodies of your enemies. That is undoubtedly helpful, however as at all times there is a catch. The components you graft onto your physique carry with them small items of their unique proprietor’s consciousness, and now they’re part of you, bringing with them recollections, impulses, and obsessions that aren’t your individual—besides now, they’re.
“You need to select what every of those fragments means to you,” the Steam web page says ominously, “and you should reside with the results of every selection.”
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Harebrained—previously often called Harebrained Schemes, however the studio lately determined to drop the “Schemes” half—had an excellent run via the Shadowrun trilogy and Battletech, an excellent videogame tackle the tabletop traditional that is solely acquired higher with age. But it surely bumped into hassle with its most up-to-date sport, The Lamplighters League, which flopped at launch final yr and in the end led to a break up with former proprietor Paradox Interactive.
Like so many different studios over the previous couple years, Harebrained additionally made important layoffs previous to the discharge of The Lamplighters League; the studio stated after its break with Paradox that its lowered headcount “led us to revisit the scope of initiatives which we’re exploring with future publishers,” suggesting Graft might be a smaller-scale venture than a few of Harebrained’s earlier releases. However that is okay: I will take six hours of “that is superior” over 20 hours of “let’s wrap this up” any day.
Graft does not but have a launch date however it is going to be out there for PC on Steam and the Epic Video games Retailer.
