Deadfall Adventures
Publisher:
Nordic Games
Developer:
The Farm 51
Platforms:
Xbox 360, PC
Genre:First Person Shooter
Release Date:September 27th, 2013
Deadfall Adventures is a first person action adventure game developed by The Farm 51 (of Painkiller: Hell & Damnation) and published by Nordic Games.
Originally set to release on June 30th 2013, the game was pushed back and was instead released on September 27th 2013 for Xbox 360 and PC.
Development
Deadfall Adventures has been developed using Unreal Engine 3. This helped in designing the game’s environments, lending a lush, detailed feel to the proceedings, and allowed for constructing big set pieces. [reference]
It is reportedly inspired by action adventure books and movies such as Indiana Jones and adventurer Allan Quartermain (from the novels written by Henry Rider Haggard). Comparisons have been made to Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series as well, but as producer Artur Falkowski states, “Comparisons are inevitable here, but it is a FPS after all and this affects many things in the gameplay. We didn’t want to just tell a story, but rather to make the player feel like a real adventurer.”
Falkowski stated that the team worked hard on the story from the beginning, researching popular films and even taking assistance from movie industry professionals to capture the genre’s tone and look. “We created the whole mythology based on popular legends, myths and beliefs. Then we added some hilarious dialogues, because in this kind of tale the humor is a must. Our story is rich but not too complicated. We mixed the fantastic elements with historical events such as the sea travels to the New World from the 16th century, organized by the King of Spain. Also as we mentioned, the hero is a great-grandson of a famous explorer, Allan Quatermain.” [reference]
A lot of research was also put into how the Nazis would go about searching and collection for treasure, in order to give a realistic representation of what was possible in that era. Other aspects such as weapons, equipment and many other things pertaining to the era were also researched.
Speaking about aspects such as dual wielding weapons, Falkowski emphasized that “We were looking for something which could emphasize the feeling of taking part in a crazy pulp adventure movie.” Taking place from the first person perspective means that the protagonist would only been seen in cut-scenes. The goal with Deadfall Adventures was to tell a good adventure story, and have the player “feel like a hero and not just watch his avatar”. Managing director at Nordic Games, Klemens Kreuzer stated that the game “marries the ethos of the Saturday morning matinee with the Summer blockbuster to create an original adventure which will grip players from start to finish.”
As for the game being delayed until September, Nordic Games’ Reinhard Pollice stated that, “This is our most ambitious game to date and we’re working very closely alongside The Farm 51 to make sure that Deadfall Adventures provides players with seamless action and puzzle-solving experience. Holding back the game’s release until September is the right decision for us to ensure that the content included offers the greatest value for players, which it certainly will.” [reference] Time was also taken to add a survival co-op mode for action outside of the campaign.
In regards to whether there would be a PlayStation 3 version any time soon, Pollice revealed that, We will evaluate that once we have free resources. I don’t want to confirm or deny that it will come at any time to a PlayStation platform.” [reference].
Pollice also stated that there will be advanced graphics and control options for PC players which will allow them to play on multiple system configurations. However, Falkowski stated that “we don’t want to make any version of the game better or different. It’s the experience which matters and this should be the same on PC and on Xbox 360.”[reference].
Story
The story takes place in the year 1938, with players assuming the role of famous adventurer Allan Quartermain’s great-grandson, James Lee Quatermain. James’s goal is to play escort to a US agent as they travel to Egypt in search for “The Heart of Atlantis”. Along the way, rival organizations such as the Nazis and Russians will be looking to obtain this device for their own purposes. Other supernatural elements such as mummies will also be playing a part in the quest for The Heart of Atlantis.
Despite being a simple man, James is described as being very misanthropic and dismissive of the occult and supernatural. However, he is a “strong protagonist” and one who believes in helping others. Along with Egypt, it was been reported that other locations such as the Arctic will be explored. It has also been revealed by Falkowski that, “Apart from that, Nazis as the bad guys are a common motive in the genre, so they just needed to be here. They aren’t the main villains in the story though.”
Gameplay
Deadfall Adventures takes place from the first person perspective and has been described as “an experience of being a famous explorer”. The game will feature many puzzle elements, but also running, gunning, exploration and platforming sequences. There will also be cut-scenes advancing the story, which allow the player to get a better look at protagonist James Lee Quartermain. Along with 30 different weapons – which include pistols, shotguns and rifles – there will be many weapons from the World War II era. Some rare weapons have also been reported to figure in the game.
James will be able to gather treasure, and using this will allow him to upgrade both his base stats and weapons. You’ll be able to improve your aiming, reload speed, stamina, health, damage and much more. [reference] The game will also feature a survival co-op mode, which allows for instant action play.