Nobody's going to tell you that the computer game industry is running low on outer space action games. Whether we're talking about involved first-person shoot-em-ups like Wing Commander 3 and TIE Fighter, or side scrolling arcade games like Tubular Worlds, the cold reaches of space are in no danger of becoming a gaming void. I love a good space action game, but my one near universal complaint with them is that most of their plots (or premises, if you want to nit-pick) read like they were written by a sixth grader on the way to school. With the wealth of talented science fiction writers out there you'd think that space games could find some interesting and original backgrounds, but unless they rely on pre-existing work (like the Star Wars Universe) or a plotline that has been establishing itself throughout previous games (like the Terran-Kilrathi war) most science fiction games fall flat on their faces when it comes to the actual fiction behind them. True, when you're blasting vicious aliens left and right that may not seem so important, but for fifty bucks I'd like a game that has an interesting plot to help suck me in, not some generic re-hash voiced by some guy that can't even get work in B movies. (Hey, Iron Assault, I think they're talkin' about you!)
I was very happy to find out that Absolute Zero, an upcoming space action game from Domark, will actually include a worthwhile plot. It being an action game, many people are likely not to notice, but I did. I recently spoke to Absolute Zero's producer Dave Georgeson, who talked at length not just about the game's features and action, but about the major points of the vast amount of background material he and the rest of the team have drawn up for the game. Absolute Zero is going to be a cinematic action game, and their intention is to create a universe that can be adapted to other games รป action, strategy, adventure, you name it. Dave Georgeson half-jokingly describes it as "2010 meets Road Warrior," but it is not derivative of those movies. Or any other movie I can think of.
Absolute Zero takes place on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. The story starts about 300 years in the future. Fusion drives have been perfected, and our spacecraft rely largely on water for fuel. Europa is essentially one big ball of ice, making it an ideal refueling site for ships heading out of our solar system. To extract large chunks of ice and launch them into orbit, a large mining colony has been established on Europa. The mining operation is not under military jurisdiction, and since the work is considered safe, many families live on the Jovian moon. Suddenly, without warning, an alien armada explodes outward from underneath a mining city, laying waste to the city and killing its inhabitants. Now the peaceful mining colony, ill-equipped for any sort of military action, is flung into an intergalactic war against an enemy whose species and motives are unknown.
I know what you're probably thinking: "I was with you. You had me, and then you lost me." If this was as far as the background of Absolute Zero went I'd be saying that myself, but there's much more to it than just a simple alien invasion. As the game progresses, you begin to realize that the aliens didn't come here to pick a fight with some over-reaching humans. Their story puts an interesting and original spin on the plot.
The aliens you face off against are not marauders, but refugees. Thousands of years ago their homeworld was destroyed by a malevolent entity, who pursued the survivors across space and into our solar system. The aliens managed to burrow deep into the icy core of Europa and leave one of their kind as a sentry, monitoring the actions of their mysterious pursuer, which is still waiting just beyond Pluto. When the human miners began to dig deeper and deeper into Europa to extract ice, the hibernating aliens believed them to be an advance force sent out from their pursuer. Seeking escape, they exploded out through the surface of Europa, inadvertently destroying the human city in the process. In doing so they unwittingly entered into a war of misunderstandings with us.
What do you think? Better than the standard "big grim future" approach? I think so. Naturally, this isn't all apparent at the start of the game. The aliens' history and motives are revealed gradually through telepathic contact. There has already been talk at Domark about creating a sequel which will be played from the aliens' perspective, which should make for a very interesting twist on this action game. With this kind of strong fiction to draw upon, Absolute Zero's design team should have no problem creating a whole gaming universe that stands apart from all the space cowboy rehashes cluttering the shelves.
