Dead Star: PS4 Exclusive Multiplayer Space Shooter

Today, Tom Ivey; the design lead of Armature Studio’s new multiplayer space shooter, Dead Star announced the reveal of this new, PlayStation exclusive game.

November 2013 was the start of the new game prototype. Three Armature developers, armed with only a few computers made it their goal to build a fun, fast, arcade-style multiplayer space shooter.

They wanted the combat to be engaging and exciting, by including scout ships that zip in and out of asteroid fields, raiders that appear from cloak to hit their enemies, and frigates that bombard the area with their missile fire. Keeping in mind the player’s skill and strategy choices, they chose a top-down perspective and worked to keep the controls simple and responsive.

The framework of the game came together quickly in the form of a demo that was able to capture the moments specific to a multiplayer experience- the office was filled with the excited shouts and disappointed moans as they won, lost, or made the lucky shot. The gameplay was then in place to begin turning their small demo, into the game they knew it could become.

While in the world of Dead Star, players will find an area called the Wastes. This is where any citizen found violating the rules of the galaxy will be banished. The Wastes is a black void of scorched metal and irradiated rock, and is a hundred light-years from any habitable space area. In the center, is the Dead Star, a large red giant corrupted by dark antimatter.

In the Wastes, life is constantly a battle. There is a war between psychos and criminal, who are fighting over any bits of technology they can scrounge up in the ancient battlefields. To add to the misery,  the Dead Star is collapsing on itself, which in-turn would wipe out any existence within a dozen light-years.

To open the game, your pilot has been banished to the Wastes. The primary game mode will have you fighting to control the prison. You will earn rewards and acknowledgment based on how you perform in battle. Whether you die in a haze of laser fire, or survive in a blaze of glory, earning the title of the galaxy’s greatest pilot, will be determined by your skills in combat.

While expanding the Dead Star universe, the core game systems were also expanded to hold modern twists to the genre. Developers focused on three main goals for the game:

1. Support a variety of play styles: There are many ships that offer unique abilities. These can be unlocked and upgraded within matches. Players will also find multiple combat roles, including defensive mining and base upgrading, to offensive roles such as long-range scouting and control-point capture.
2. Create strategic variation: In Dead Star, players will not be limited to a set of maps with limited strategies. The procedural map generation system will allow maps to have randomized scenarios every match, with the ability to vote where the battle takes place.
3. The “Whaaaat?! Factor”: Armature developers decided to do something out of the ordinary for Dead Star, In a “to-be-announced” game mode, players will be able to impact a live, ongoing match in unique and exciting ways.

Armature will reveal more of Dead Star in the coming months, releasing the new features and exciting mysteries behind the new game mode, and allowing PlayStation platers to get the behind-the-scenes glimpse at Dead Star.

Be sure to check out the trailer, and original story.