BOOT | Blue Heaven

I ran a news piece on this yesterday following a press release announcing that the title was due to be coming to Kickstarter later in the day, and it’s now live and so I’m going to take a look at the 18+ rated, pixel-art game, titled, “Blue Heaven”. Blue Heaven is being developed by Brainworm Games and has taken to Kickstarter to begin crowdfunding in hope of reaching their target goal of $60,000 before the crowdfunding process ends on the 11th of June 2017.. 

Blue Heaven is currently, at the time of writing, sitting at $460, and with a backing of 23 people. The title is an 18+ title so viewer/reader discretion is advised. Blue Heaven is set in a cyberpunk themed world, events that led the world to what it is now are unknown. The player takes control of the protagonist, V1CT0R Wylde, a mercenary of the state, allowed to intake large doses of adrenaline without the need to question the morality of his acts. Wylde, in a last attempt to save whatever bit of humanity he has left, heads out on a new venture in unexplored lands, and finds himself in unpredictable conflict.

What Features Are There?

Well, firstly there is a lot of sex, drugs, gambling, violence, slavery, and all the stuff you’d expect to see in an 18+ title, and it’s designed in a pixel-art style with dark themes, and designed to be played with a controller or a just a keyboard. No mouse needed. The story is also a strong part to the game, and will come through the use of dialogue as players explore the world around them by interacting with characters.

As stated in the news post, Brainworm Games believe that they are the first pixel-art game in history to animate their characters in an isometric perspective with rotoscoping. Confused? To do the rotoscoping, the developers gathered sport cameras and built up eight tripods and recorded a subject acting out the moves that you see within the game. Fancy. There are around one-hundred and eighty animations for the protagonist, and eight animations for the enemies.

The gameplay focuses on fighting, and dialogue, with fights being quick and offering cover from ranged attacks, as well as allowing for shooting from cover. Targets can be locked onto, and blocking with melee weapons allows for defensive fighting rather than all out action. Dialogues come in two ways, either as in-the-moment during fights or ventures, and those that require a choice.

With a character already having established himself in the past leading up to when the player takes control, there isn’t a skill tree system of sorts, there is however special abilities that are learnt over time when milestones are hit, and players can make Wylde stronger in fighting through ability, weapons, armour, and consumables. In-game money is also earned and spendable throughout the world.

Anything Else?

There are no stretch goals that have been announced so far, however there are due to be twenty-six chapters to the story, nine cities, two countries, at least fifty-two music themes, and around about one hundred and five scenarios. There should also be ten enemy classes, and thirty relevant characters.

You can view the official Kickstarter page here