2nd Studio’s Jazon and the Dead has recently entered into its crowd-funding phase on Fig. Yes, the same Fig that has Tim “Incorrect Match Sock Puppet” Schafer on the advisory board. Nevertheless, the studio released its first full promo trailer for Jazon and the Dead, and it’s not bad.
Clocking in at just under two minutes, the trailer is righteous. The game is an isometric, 3D, inked shaded action game with a comic book-style flair to it. The main character can punch off the heads of zombies just like in the image up above, and he also has access to a number of weapons in which to down the undead. You can check out the trailer for yourself.
The story centers around Jazon, a badass with cool tattoos who wakes up at a bar without a memory to help him piece together his past. The only thing he finds out is that the future is filled with bandits, no-do-gooders and zombies.
Not satisfied to stay in a world ruled by the undead, Jazon teams up with the wasteland survivor, Zoey, and the duo travel to the Oracle to get some answers and bust some heads along the way.
The game is being written by Michael Valeur, the same mind behind games like Total Overdose and Blackout, and there’s been deep inspiration from the art of Frank Miller and Mike Mignola.
2nd Studio explains some of their goals and what they hope to achieve by crowd-funding the game through Fig in their pitch video below.
The Denmark-based developers want to bring back some of the edge and humor that seems to be fizzling out lately in the gaming industry. Jazon and the Dead takes cues from 1980’s action-horror films, and puts in a dash of characterization and storytelling from some adventure games released throughout the 1990s.
You can definitely see some inspiration from Tim Schafer’s Full Throttle in there, and I love that future desert-punk vibe that the game has going on.
The gameplay is very similar to hat classic Xbox title Hunter: The Rockening, utilizing twin-stick action controls to punch, hack, slash and shoot your way through a horde of the undead.
The Unity 5-powered isometric shooter has some obvious charm to it, and with the right amount of support and dedication it could become a sleeper hit. Parts of it remind me a little bit of Evil Dead 2.
The biggest hurdle this game is likely going to face is getting gamers to bite the bullet and donate through Fig. You might have a better chance of devising an equation that has Tim Schafer’s bigoted #GamerGate joke making sense.
Even still, Fig has garnered some criticisms due to the way the platform is operated, mainly that those who donate also have an opportunity to invest with intent of getting returns on that investment if the game launches. It’s tricky business and has been fighting an uphill battle when it comes to convincing gamers that it’s a better alternative than IndieGoGo or Kickstarter.
Anyway, if you like what 2nd Studio has boiling in the pot with Jazon and the Dead, you can contribute to the cause or learn more about the indie project by visiting the Fig crowd-funding page.