Under Pressure: New Game, 8 Guys, & Free Gov’t Money

Kotaku is reporting on an interesting new project for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 entitled Under Pressure. Is it special because of some incredible new graphics engine? No. Is it incredible because of some enticing gameplay mechanics? Kinda.

But why, exactly, is it so special? Because it’s being developed by 8 guys with a little bit of free government money. Remember, in this day and age of game development, it can cost a talented team about $500,000 to $1 million just to produce a demo to show to a publisher. Up until recently, that free government money had only gotten them a total of $320,000. They have since received more financing from a private investor.

Oh, and there’s also this little tidbit too:

Those eight people don’t even share an office. Prophecy’s team is split between Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide and even the US, linked only by remote office software, a move that studio boss Andrew Smith says is “new, but we wanted specific people for the game who weren’t in Canberra. Remote let us all come together on the project”.

While it is possible that similar effort is going on unbeknownst to us by other upstart developers, it still makes for an incredible story. Maybe because I’ve been slogging around in game journalism for about 9 years with just this site – which makes me no money – and a freelance GameSpot gig – which makes me just a bit of money – do I find their story so endearing. It can be overwhelming at times to look at a seemingly insurmountable obstacle and decide to take it head on. For that, Prophecy Games has my respect.

So what about the game itself? Under Pressure is essentially a third-person survival horror adventure of sorts with a whacked out story about a government ship that’s been mysteriously sunk. And then the crew turns into zombies…

Yeah. As Kotaku so eloquently put it, “Underwater, against zombies.”

One of the interesting aspects of the game is that the environment is said to be completely destructible. While that isn’t new, the promise is that such destruction will be persistent. That means if you set off grenades and mangle a staircase, then it will still be mangled when you return to the area a few hours later. Then, there’s this:

Another, more ambitious example is in the game’s use of water: being set underwater, if you blow out a window, a section of the ship will flood. Water will rise slowly as it rushes in from outside, and for the rest of the game, that section of the ship will remain flooded. Sometimes this can be used to flush away enemies, sometimes it’ll be a necessity so that you can swim to a previously inaccessible part of the ship.

For now, Prophecy Games hasn’t found a publisher for the game, though we wouldn’t be surprised if they sign a deal sometime soon. What’s disheartening is how this interferes with my typically cynical and biting review style. Even if Under Pressure turns out to be terrible, I would feel terrible trashing their game. With that said, make sure it comes out good, Prophecy.

We will be contacting Prophecy for more follow-up on the game soon. Until then, check out this video from Kotaku of an early tech demo. Remember, the game is still in the beginning stages of development so don’t be too critical of the visuals.

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