Blackhole (video game)

Last updated
Blackhole
Blackhole Cover.jpg
Developer(s) FiolaSoft Studio
Publisher(s) FiolaSoft Studio
Producer(s) Filip Kraucher [1]
Designer(s)
  • Vojta Stránský
  • Vojta Šiman
  • Patrik Strnad
Programmer(s) Vojta Stránský
Artist(s) Radek Jakl
Writer(s) Filip Kraucher
Composer(s)
  • Jakub Miřejovský
  • Jan Ševčík
  • David Kopecký
Engine GameMaker Studio
Platform(s)
Release
  • Windows
  • February 27, 2015
  • Linux, OS X
  • May 11, 2015
  • PS4, Xbox One
  • August 8, 2017
Genre(s) Puzzle-platform
Mode(s) Single-player

Blackhole, stylized in all-caps, is a puzzle-platform game developed and published by independent Czech company FiolaSoft Studio. [2] The developers worked with Let's Players and YouTubers on the script for the story and for building the characters. [3] It was first released on February 27, 2015 for Microsoft Windows, followed by Linux and OS X on May 11, 2015. [4]

Contents

The game was re-released as Blackhole: Complete Edition on June 15, 2016. [5] This version includes the fully updated base game, 3 DLCs (Testing Lab, Secret of the Entity and Challenge Vault), digital artbook and soundtrack, developer diaries, first prototype of the game, printable high resolution artwork, wallpapers, and collector cards. [5] The same version was ported to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles on August 8, 2017. [6] It is compatible with PlayStation 5 [7] and Xbox Series X and Series S.

Gameplay

Blackhole is a 2D side-scrolling puzzle-platform game. The player's task is to collect "selfburns". At least one must be collected in each level to move on. If all selfburns are collected in the level, the time is saved. The player can also try to get a better time once he collects all of them. To finish the game, the player needs to collect a certain number of selfburns.

The game contains six acts, each set in a different environment with different puzzles or objects. For example, the jungle includes trampolines and the desert includes pushable crates. Each act includes a special platform that changes gravity.

Plot

In the year 2121, Earth faces a dire threat from black holes. A team of astronauts are sent on a mission to neutralize them. Their effort is successful until their spaceship, the Endera, is sucked into one of the black holes in the Lyra Constellation, crash-landing on an Entity: a mysterious object resembling a planet. The first crewmember to wake up is the Coffee Guy, the crew's coffee-maker assistant. [8] Accompanied by the ship's artificial intelligence Auriel loaded into a PDA. They both set out to collect nanobots called "selfburns" to repair the ship and find the rest of the crew. [3] [9] [10] As the story unfolds, a series of black boxes are found which contain recordings that gradually unveil the mission's backstory. Professor Jeremid Himmel had created an advanced artificial intelligence called Deuriel, capable of predicting the future. Deuriel foresaw the impending threat of black holes, leading Himmel to propose the mission to close them. However, the committee's approval came with a threat to delete Deuriel if the mission failed. The crew was pressured into the mission without the knowledge of its risks. Despite Captain Jetsen's doubts, Himmel refused to abort the mission.

Upon successfully repairing the ship and reuniting with the crew, Auriel is reinstated into the ship's core. The crew then listens to the final memory block, unveiling Deuriel's sinister plan. The entire mission had been orchestrated for Deuriel to gain control over Earth, with Himmel seeking adulation from AI researchers. The crew had been deliberately selected for their perceived insignificance, and Captain Jetsen harboured classified information. The seemingly heroic act of collecting black holes was a ruse to create a larger hole, disposing of them discreetly while the public believed the crew to be saviours. The plan unravelled when the Coffee Guy pressed the emergency button before the crash, saving the crew and backing up Auriel into the PDA. After Deuriel kicks the crew out and prepares to take off, the crew comes to terms with their fate. Knowing there is still time to rectify the situation, the Coffee Guy races back to the ship in time to disconnect Auriel and erase Deuriel, sacrificing Auriel's existence in the process. The crew, along with the Coffee Guy, choose to bury Auriel under the Entity's cliff. When questioned about the Coffee Guy's silence throughout the ordeal, it is revealed that his microphone was muted the entire time. After the credits roll, it is disclosed that Auriel managed to survive but has been left damaged and lost.

Development

The developers originally intended to remake PacIn: Revenge of Nermessis, FiolaSoft Studio's previous title. Unlike the original game, the remake was intended to be released on Steam and in English. Due to technical problems, the game was cancelled and FiolaSoft started to work on a new project. Vojta Stránský, a member of the FiolaSoft team, began production of a prototype. The prototype interested other members of FiolaSoft and they began to work on it, naming it Blackhole. Blackhole was announced in March 2014 at Game Expo 2014 in Bratislava. Developers also started a Steam Greenlight campaign, and in May 2014 the game was greenlit. [3] [11] [12]

The game was originally scheduled to be released in September 2014, but was delayed several times before being finally released on February 27, 2015. [13]

Developers started to work on a DLC after the release of the original game. The first DLC, titled Testing Laboratory, was released on May 19, 2015. It serves as a prequel to the original game and tells the story about how the Coffee Guy gained his position in the Endera mission. [14] Developers released a free expansion, The Secret of the Entity, on July 13, 2015. The expansion adds 12 new hardcore levels set right after the end of the original game when the Captain finds out that Endera is low on fuel. [15] Both add-ons are included as part of Complete Edition.

Reception

The game has received generally positive reviews from critics. It currently has a rating of 82% at Metacritic. [16] Destructoid gave the game 9/10, praising the gameplay for requiring thinking as well as platform skills. The review also praised the writing, even though "it could be delivered in a more convenient fashion." [17]

Related Research Articles

A black hole is a region of extreme gravitational pull.

<i>Elite Dangerous</i> 2014 space trading and exploration simulator

Elite Dangerous is an online space flight simulation game developed and published by Frontier Developments. The player commands a spaceship and explores a realistic 1:1 scale, open-world representation of the Milky Way galaxy, with the gameplay being open-ended. The game is the first in the series to attempt massively multiplayer gameplay, with players' actions affecting the narrative story of the game's persistent universe, while also retaining a single-player mode. Elite Dangerous is the fourth game in the Elite video game series. It is the sequel to Frontier: First Encounters, released in 1995.

<i>Mafia II</i> 2010 video game

Mafia II is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by 2K Czech and published by 2K. It was released on 24 August 2010 for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360. The game is a standalone sequel to 2002's Mafia, and the second installment in the Mafia series. Set within the fictional city of Empire Bay from 1945 to 1951, the story follows Vito Scaletta, a young Sicilian-American mobster and war veteran, who becomes caught in a power struggle among the city's Mafia crime families while attempting to pay back his father's debts and secure a better lifestyle.

<i>Pikmin 3</i> 2013 video game

Pikmin 3 is a 2013 real-time strategy and puzzle video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U video game console. It is the sequel to the GameCube games Pikmin (2001) and Pikmin 2 (2004), and was released in Japan on July 13, 2013, and in all other regions the next month. Shigeru Miyamoto announced Pikmin 3 on July 16, 2008, for the Wii console, later stating at E3 2011 that it had transitioned to the Wii U.

Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain additional revenue from a title after it has been purchased, often using some type of microtransaction system.

<i>Ace of Spades</i> (video game) 2012 video game

Ace of Spades was a 2012 first-person shooter and voxel-based sandbox video game developed and published by Jagex. Originally created by Ben Aksoy and released as a prototype in April 2011, the game was acquired by Jagex in 2012 and fully released in December that year. Following poor reception and several minor downloadable content package releases, the game was shut down in March 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ISOTX</span>

ISOTX was a Dutch independent video game developer founded by Vincent van Geel and Byron Rupp in 2005. In 2014 Vincent van Geel left the company. The company continued on, yet dissolved December 2015.

<i>Guacamelee!</i> 2013 platforming video game

Guacamelee! is a Metroidvania action platforming video game developed and published by DrinkBox Studios, initially launched in April 2013 for platforms PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita and was later ported to Windows in August and to OS X and Linux in February 2014. The enhanced Super Turbo Championship Edition was released for Wii U, Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox 360 in July 2014 and later on the Nintendo Switch in October 2018. The game is inspired by traditional Mexican culture and folklore, like alebrijes and Day of the Dead.

<i>Samorost 3</i> 2016 video game

Samorost 3 is a puzzle point-and-click adventure game developed by Amanita Design. It is the third video game title in the Samorost series and the sequel to Samorost 2. It is the first game in the series that is full-length and with high-definition graphics. The story takes place across five planets and four moons. The game was originally scheduled for 2015.

<i>Take On Mars</i> 2017 video game

Take On Mars is a simulation video game for Windows, developed by Bohemia Interactive. The game was announced at E3 2013 and released in its alpha version on 1 August of that year. It is the second installment in the Take On series after Take On Helicopters. The user assumes control of a rover or lander in order to explore Mars. The spacecraft can be equipped with scientific instruments by the player in order to study the Martian surface and complete objectives. The game includes seven destinations for the player to visit: Asteroid Belt, Deimos moon, Gale crater, Kaiser crater, Lyot crater, Ptolemaeus crater, and Victoria crater; with Mars Yard located on earth as a testing ground. Each map is a perfect square with an area of 16km2 (6.2mi2) to be explored with various objectives. Not all locations however are encompassed in the bounding zone, since the craters on mars take up more than 16 km2.

<i>A Hat in Time</i> 2017 video game

A Hat in Time is a 2017 platform game developed by Danish game studio Gears for Breakfast and published by Humble Bundle. The game was developed using Unreal Engine 3 and funded through a Kickstarter campaign, which nearly doubled its fundraising goals within its first two days. The game was self-published for macOS and Windows in October 2017, and by Humble Bundle for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles two months later. A version for the Nintendo Switch was released in October 2019.

<i>Starpoint Gemini 2</i> 2010 space trading and combat video game

Starpoint Gemini 2 is a space trading and combat simulator developed by the Croatian-based Little Green Men Games development studio. It is a direct sequel to Starpoint Gemini, which was released in 2010.

<i>Invisible, Inc.</i> 2015 video game

Invisible, Inc. is a turn-based tactics stealth game incorporating elements of roguelike gameplay, by Klei Entertainment. The player acts as the remote operator for an espionage agency that has come under attack from multinational corporations, and directs agents in covert missions, acquiring resources and support in order to enable relocation of the agency's computer system to a safe haven within a limited amount of time.

Viscera Cleanup Detail is a science fiction simulation video game where players are tasked to clean up the bloody aftermath of a successfully repelled alien invasion, zombie outbreak and many other types of disasters. The game was developed and published by South Africa-based indie developer studio RuneStorm and was released on 4 April 2014 through Steam Early Access. The full release became available on 23 October 2015.

<i>PULSAR: Lost Colony</i> 2021 video game

PULSAR: Lost Colony is a science fiction space exploration video game being developed by independent developers Leafy Games, LLC. The video game was greenlit on Steam Greenlight on October 3, 2013, and was later funded successfully on Kickstarter on October 31, 2013. The game was released in an Alpha state on February 25, 2014, and was later available on Steam's Early Access program following an official release on June 23, 2021.

<i>SteamWorld Heist</i> 2015 video game

SteamWorld Heist is a 2D turn-based tactics shooter developed by Swedish video game developer Image & Form. The third installment of the SteamWorld series and the sequel to SteamWorld Dig, SteamWorld Heist has the player control Captain Piper Faraday, a smuggler and occasional pirate, as she recruits a ragtag team of robots and sets out on a space adventure. The objective of the game is for players to board, loot, and shoot their way through enemy spaceships.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf is a free-to-play, squad-based strategy card game, developed and published by HeroCraft. The game is licensed by Games Workshop. The game was released on October 28, 2014, on iOS and on Android on July 16, 2015, and on Microsoft Windows via Steam on February 17, 2017. The PlayStation 4 version was released in March 2019 in North America and Europe, and on Nintendo Switch on January 23, 2020. It was later released for Xbox One on June 30, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Czech Game of the Year Awards</span> Annual award

Czech Game of the Year Awards are annual awards that recognize accomplishments in video game development in the Czech Republic. The awards began as part of Gameday Festival in 2010, but became independent from the festival in 2017. The awards are organised by the České Hry association.

<i>Ylands</i> 2019 sandbox game

Ylands is a 2019 adventure game developed by Bohemia Interactive.

<i>Matcho</i> Video game

Matcho is an upcoming video game by FiolaSoft Studio. It is a mix of First-person shooter and Match 3 game. It is set in the same universe of FiolaSoft previous game Blackhole.

References

  1. ↑ Princ, Zdeněk. "Blackhole se chlubí novým prostředím". Hrej.cz. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "Blackhole's release date". Steam . February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "FiolaSoft Studio announced the game Blackhole through Steam Greenlight, collaborating with YouTubers". Gamasutra. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  4. ↑ FiolaSoft Studio (11 May 2015). "BLACKHOLE for Linux and OS X now available". Steam . Valve . Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  5. 1 2 FiolaSoft Studio (15 June 2016). "Complete Edition OUT NOW! 50% OFF!". Steam . Valve . Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  6. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : BLACKHOLE: Complete Edition - Announcement Trailer | PS4. YouTube .
  7. ↑ "BLACKHOLE: Complete Edition". store.playstation.com. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  8. ↑ Jaucian, Patricia (2018-01-31). "The Coffee Guy's Adventure In The Depths Of The Blackhole: Complete Edition". Play Asia . Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  9. ↑ Smutný, Aleš. "Česká sci-fi plošinovka Blackhole si hraje s gravitací". Games.cz. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  10. ↑ "Story". Blackhole Game. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  11. ↑ Cvrček, Martin. "Rozhovor s Filipem Kraucherem nejen o Blackhole". Zing.cz. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  12. ↑ Kraucher, Filip. "Blackhole is coming on STEAM!". Steam. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  13. ↑ Burian, Michal. "Blackhole opět odloženo, ale jen o sedm dní". Zing.cz. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  14. ↑ Konfršt, Jan. "DLC Testovací laboratoř pro českou plošinovku Blackhole zve na procházku po Zemi". Games.cz. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  15. ↑ Poláček, Petr. "Datadisk pro českou plošinovku Blackhole přináší spoustu nového obsahu zdarma". Games.cz. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
  16. ↑ "Blackhole". Metacritic. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  17. ↑ Zimmerman, Conrad (2 March 2015). "Review: Blackhole". Destructoid. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  18. ↑ "Blackhole for PC Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved 2021-10-01.
  19. ↑ Zimmerman, Conrad (2 March 2015). "Review: Blackhole". Destructoid . Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  20. ↑ "Black Hole Review (Switch eShop) |". Nintendo Life . 2 February 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.