Avalanche Studios, the creators of the Just Cause franchise and 2015’s criminally underrated Mad Max game, are back with a brand new IP and it looks interesting, to say the least. Generation Zero, set in 1980’s Sweden, will drop players into an open world taken over by hostile machines that need to be quelled.
The trailer, released on Thursday, showcases a group of four 80’s-looking teenager types (à la John Hughes) working together to take down a horde of menacing robots that are on the offensive. The group, loaded up with only small arms and explosives, systematically take down the mechanized creatures in what looks to be the Swedish countryside. Some will immediately recognize the relation between the footage and the work of Simon Stålenhag, the brilliant (and also Swedish) artist behind the Tales from the Loop tabletop RPG, which Avalanche has definitely taken inspiration from in this case.
According to the studio, players will be able to either take on their enemies going solo, or they can join up to three other players in the fight for humanity. Using fan favorites like sniper rifles, hand grenades, and more, the team must endure and resist against these worthy foes. A description of the trailer states “you’ll be able to lure, cripple, or destroy enemies in intense, creative sandbox skirmishes.”
Similar to last year’s critically acclaimed Horizon Zero Dawn, you can dispatch the machines by destroying them piece-by-piece using weapons with realistic ballistic properties. Enemies that you weaken will stay that way, meaning you can retreat to get your bearings, then head back into the fray to finish what you started (or they started). Avalanche will also be utilizing the help of the Apex engine, the same one they used for Just Cause 3 and Mad Max.
Avalanche Studios are building up quite a name for themselves in the industry recently, having also just partnered with id Software on the upcoming RAGE 2. It’s definitely an exciting time for the Swedish developer, and gamers all over the world are excited to see what their next projects bring to the table.
Generation Zero will release sometime in 2019, and we expect to hear much more about it during this year’s E3 conference.
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