Perhaps you’ve seen Choose Your Own Adventure books before, those novels where — at various points — you’d be prompted to select from an assortment of choices (some of which would be immediately fatal). The older amongst you might even remember the Fighting Fantasy line of books, wherein simple Pencil and Paper RPG mechanics would be thrown into the mix in order to keep repeat readings a far more uncertain affair. For anyone whom remembered either of those things, Dave Morris’s upcoming The Frankenstein Wars should be a mobile-powered trip to the past you’ve long been seeking.
The project’s plot, as summarized by the creator, goes as follows:
“Tom and Anton Clerval have long guarded the secret to Victor Frankenstein’s resurrection technology. In revolutionary France, in 1827, that secret at last comes to light. The radical Zeroiste movement creates an army of the reanimated dead to seize control of the country, and then to cross the Channel to strike at the heart of the British Empire. Only Tom and Anton have the power to halt the Zeroistes — or to stoke the flames of all-out war.”
Although The Frankenstein Wars will be presented to the player entirely via written prose and static images, Dave Morris plans to capitalize upon modern technology in order to make his game far more interactive than any of the earlier classics that inspired him. Players will have to explore maps to reach their objectives; deal with dynamic weather that can unpredictably turn the tide of battle; as well as deal with a time-system where the longer you take to challenge an enemy, the more time they’ll have to prepare for battle. As you direct both Tom and Anton through a branching non-linear storyline — using the all of the above game mechanics, and many more — you’ll have to ultimately decide if the two brothers joins forces together, or if this war turns them into the bitterest of rivals.
However — in order to pay the top-notch team that Dave Morris has assembled — the project is going to need proper funding, since it’s rather hard for people to work on a game while starving at the same time. It was for this reason that Cubus Games recently approached Kickstarter with a humble request for €8,000, of which over €3,000 has so far been provided by a variety of generous backers. Although things currently look quite positive for Dave Morris’s project, since 22 days still remain, there’s much work left to be done if Tom and Anton are going to have any hope of stopping the Zeroiste plot.
Currently — for a pledge of roughly $4 — you will be able to secure your very own launch copy of The Frankenstein Wars for either iOS or Android, which is expected to arrive sometime around this December. Meanwhile — for those whom pledge even more — additional backer rewards include: all previous game books by Cubus Games, a digital copy of the project’s soundtrack, or even a thirty minute Skype chat with Dave Morris. Finally — should you have $100 on hand — you can even appear in The Frankenstein Wars, via your face and name, as one of the Lazaran Fighters from the 2nd Honor Regiment (as well as many other opportunities to appear in-game, should you donate even more still).
Those now intrigued by Dave Morris’s vision for The Frankenstein Wars must be sure that their donations are successfully chipped in before July 2nd rolls around, or else the Zeroiste’s undead hordes just might forever rewrite history as we know it!