Magrunner: Dark Pulse Reaches First Crowdfunding Goal
Yesterday, 3 AM Games’ Magrunner: Dark Pulse reached their initial goal on crowd funding-meets-gaming-platform Gamesplanet Lab with more than two weeks remaining. Meeting and surpassing their goal of 100k Euros, 3 AM Games is adding PVP mode and five new multiplayer levels.
Magrunner: Dark Pulse is a first-person puzzle game using the Unreal Engine 3 and “set in a cyberpunk reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos” or, “Cthulhupunk.“ The game’s protagonist, Yoshi, uses a high-tech glove to manipulate magnetic polarity to navigate through the stages of the Gruckezber Magtech Challenge in one piece. He’s got a cyberdog sidekick and a mutant mentor, and when you throw the Great Old Ones into his cyberpunk world, I’m intrigued to say the least.
With the success of Quantum Conundrum, it’s clear that first-person physics-based puzzle games aren’t restricted to the laboratories of Aperture Science. But when I got to check out Quantum Conundrum at Pax East earlier this year, the cartoony and pastel setting really didn’t do anything for me. Magrunner goes in pretty much the opposite direction of Conundrum, while the Cthulhu Mythos should keep it distinguishable from the super-popular Portal series.
Cthulhu showing complete disregard for your puny human psyche
I also like the funding model for Magrunner. The base game was already entirely funded at 800k Euros. The Gamesplanet Lab funding was just to expand on what 3 AM already had. And while Kickstarter campaigns for games have been mostly hit-or-miss, the game-centric Gamesplanet Lab provides a more thorough and practical platform for funding a video game. Through Gamesplanet, Magrunner beta players will be better able to submit feedback to the developers.
Yoshi’s mentor Gamaji- more than a little reminiscent of Spirited Away’s Kamaji
This is definitely one crowd funded project I’ll be keeping my eye on. The beta version should be available to play within the next three months. An update from Doug Burchill of 3 AM Games also features the protagonist Yoshi doing a victory dance, check it out here.
