LordOfLore
Banned
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2018, PC/PS4/Switch/XB1
Trailer.
Over the past few years, we've seen a phenomenon of classic games returning to our TV screens.
XCOM, Turok, System Shock, Crash Bandicoot, Sonic Mania... all examples of titles that have been recreated or recommissioned by the fans that grew up playing them in the 1990s and early 2000s. And some (although certainly not all) have enjoyed even more success a second time around.
Today comes the news of another retro revival. Square Enix Collective - the division at the publisher devoted to indie game development - has announced a remake of the 2000 PS1 game Fear Effect.
The history of Fear Effect is short-lived. Two popular action adventure games were released in 2000 and 2001, featuring an intriguing female lead character (Hana) and a cinematic story. But a planned PS2 game, Fear Effect Inferno, was never completed and that is where the story ended.
Then in 2014 Square Enix created its Collective division. The team wanted to work with indie developers in a variety of ways, and was even allowing studios to utilise some of its back catalogue IP should they wish. French studio Sushee were huge fans of the original Fear Effect titles, so took Square Enix up on its offer and pitched a real-time tactical game: Fear Effect Sedna. It was a different take on the IP and the Collective team was intrigued, so they took the game to Kickstarter, where it received the backing it needed.
Yet the fans wanted more, including the chance to revisit the original titles, so Square Enix granted Sushee permission to create Fear Effect Reinvented - a full reworking of the original.
"As soon as we announced Sedna and the revival of the franchise in April 2016, we got a lot of emails, tweets and Facebook messages to request remakes of the first episodes, and more surprisingly, a release of Fear Effect Inferno," recalls Benjamin Anseaume, CEO of Sushee. "And the messages haven't stopped since then. More than a year and a half after, we still receive this kind of request very often.
"One thing has always been clear with Square Enix, if the reception was enthusiastic enough, we could imagine doing everything with this licence and it included remaking the old episodes. We said this to the community quickly after the announcement of Sedna and today we are very happy to say that it's thanks to the fan's support that everyone will be able to play, on every platform, this old classic in its new shape."
Phil Elliott, director of indie development at Square Enix London, continues: "Originally we wanted to see if opening up our back catalogue of Western IP could help indie developers to make a name for themselves, considering how tough it can be to make a splash with original IP. So when Sushee pitched Fear Effect Sedna after finishing on Goetia [a point-and-click adventure also published by Collective], we were open to the experiment.
"We've seen a good response to this new game - albeit presented in a different style to make it more appropriate for the budgets available at indie level. And so when the Sushee team suggested revisiting the original game, we felt it was a good idea, especially when you consider that as an original PlayStation exclusive, anybody wanting to sample it now would have a tough time."
More at the link.
2018, PC/PS4/Switch/XB1