Dead Static Drive

Last updated

Dead Static Drive
Developer(s) Reuben Games
Publisher(s) Reuben Games
Engine Unreal Engine 4
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Xbox One
Genre(s) Action-adventure, survival horror
Mode(s) Single-player

Dead Static Drive is a top-down driving meets survival horror video game developed and published by Reuben Games. It is planned to be released on Windows and Xbox One in the third quarter of 2024. [1] [2] The game has a "retro Americana" graphical style, and involves a road trip that takes a turn into Lovecraftian horror. [3]

Contents

Plot

The main character of the game goes on a road trip to reconnect with their estranged family members, traveling between towns and doing quests in each town where they can freely walk around outside their car. [3] The player realizes that the apocalypse is happening and must fight Lovecraftian monsters and potentially stop the end of the world. [4]

Development

The game's creator, Mike Blackney, started development in 2014, and 6 months later, in 2015, received a $15,000 Unreal Dev Grant for the game's development. [4] [5] Later, he also received funding from the Australian government that enabled him to quit his job as a teacher and continue developing the game, as well as hire an artist and musician. [4] He noted inspiration for the game from the 1981 film The Evil Dead , and horror set in the suburbs and mundane settings, and has described the game as "Grand Theft Cthulhu". [3] Leena van Deventer came onto the project in 2019, as Creative Producer and Writer.

In March 2023, Reuben Games announced that they expected to release the game in the third quarter of 2024. [1]

Reception

Stephanie Chan of VentureBeat called the game "stylish but also evocative". [4] Adam Smith of Rock, Paper, Shotgun called the graphics "lovely" and the monsters "refreshingly untentacled", commenting that the game could use some folklore that is not just Lovecraft. [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Call of Cthulhu</i> (role-playing game) Tabletop horror role-playing game

Call of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos. The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium; it was first released in 1981 and is in its seventh edition, with licensed foreign language editions available as well. Its game system is based on Chaosium's Basic Role-Playing (BRP) with additions for the horror genre. These include special rules for sanity and luck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cthulhu</span> Fictional cosmic entity

Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pantheon of Lovecraftian cosmic entities, this creature has since been featured in numerous pop culture references. Lovecraft depicts it as a gigantic entity worshipped by cultists, in the shape of a green octopus, dragon, and a caricature of human form. The Lovecraft-inspired universe, the Cthulhu Mythos, where it exists with its fellow entities, is named after it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lovecraftian horror</span> Subgenre of horror

Lovecraftian horror, also called cosmic horror or eldritch horror, is a subgenre of horror fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is named after American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937). His work emphasizes themes of cosmic dread, forbidden and dangerous knowledge, madness, non-human influences on humanity, religion and superstition, fate and inevitability, and the risks associated with scientific discoveries, which are now associated with Lovecraftian horror as a subgenre. The cosmic themes of Lovecraftian horror can also be found in other media, notably horror films, horror games, and comics.

Zeboyd Games is a indie developer specializing in retro-style 16-bit role-playing video games. Zeboyd is most associated with its co-creators Robert Boyd and William Stiernberg, who did the great majority of the work for their games. Stiernberg left the studio in 2023, but it continues onward under Boyd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flying Wild Hog</span> Polish video game developer

Flying Wild Hog Sp. z o.o. is a Polish video game developer based in Warsaw and founded in 2009. The company is best known for the 2013 reboot of Shadow Warrior, and its 2016 sequel, Shadow Warrior 2.

Cloudgine Limited was a British video game developer based in Edinburgh. Founded in 2012 by Dave Jones, it focuses on cloud technologies for video games. It was acquired by Epic Games in 2018 and integrated.

Kitty Horrorshow is the pseudonym of an independent video game developer. Releasing her games on the distribution platform itch.io, she specializes in the psychological horror genre, with her games focusing on surreal and atmospheric horror in the aesthetic style of early 3D videogames.

<i>Call of Cthulhu</i> (video game) 2018 video game

Call of Cthulhu is a role-playing survival horror video game developed by Cyanide and published by Focus Home Interactive for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. The game features a semi-open world environment and incorporates themes of Lovecraftian and psychological horror into a story that includes elements of investigation and stealth. Despite its title, it is not a direct adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's short story "The Call of Cthulhu" as it is mostly based on the Cthulhu Mythos along with the 1981 role-playing game of the same title.

<i>Conarium</i> (video game) 2017 video game

Conarium is a Lovecraftian horror adventure video game, inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's novella At the Mountains of Madness. The game was developed by Turkish game development studio Zoetrope Interactive, published by Dutch indie game publisher Iceberg Interactive, and was first released for Microsoft Windows in June 2017. It was subsequently ported to Linux and macOS in 2018, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2019, and the Nintendo Switch in 2021.

<i>The Sinking City</i> 2019 video game

The Sinking City is an action-adventure game developed by Frogwares and inspired by the works of horror fiction author H. P. Lovecraft. Set in the fictional city of Oakmont, Massachusetts during the 1920s, the story follows private investigator and war veteran Charles W. Reed as he searches for clues to the cause of the terrifying visions plaguing him, and becomes embroiled in the mystery of Oakmont's unrelenting flooding.

No More Robots British video game publisher

No More Robots Ltd is a British video game publisher based in Manchester, England. The company was founded by Mike Rose, previously of publishing company tinyBuild, alongside investors Simon Carless and Jas Purewal. The publishing label originally found success with digital games Not Tonight and Descenders, and now works with various development studios for titles across PC and console gaming platforms.

In the video game industry, 2021 saw the release of many new titles. The numerous delays in software and hardware releases due to the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted development schedules, leading to several games being delayed into 2022 or even postponed indefinitely. Additionally, computer and console hardware were impacted by the combined effects of a semiconductor shortage and a rising growth of bitcoin mining that strained the supply of critical components.

<i>Little Devil Inside</i> Upcoming action-adventure video game

Little Devil Inside is an upcoming action-adventure video game developed and published by Neostream Interactive. The game's single-player and co-operative multiplayer modes both follow the professional and personal lives of explorers searching for monsters & supernatural events in a 19th-century-inspired world. It is planned for initial release on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and will be followed by Nintendo Switch and Xbox One shortly after.

<i>The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes</i> 2021 interactive drama game

The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes is a 2021 interactive drama and survival horror video game developed by Supermassive Games and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is the third game of the first season of The Dark Pictures Anthology. The game features a multilinear plot in which decisions can significantly alter the trajectory of the story and change the relationships between the five playable protagonists; some lead to their permanent deaths. House of Ashes is set during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and follows five characters—four Americans working for the US Armed Forces and one Iraqi Republican Guard—who must escape from an underground Akkadian temple and survive the vampiric creatures that infest the area. Ashley Tisdale, who plays CIA operative Rachel King, was marketed as the game's leading actress. Jason Graves, a long-time collaborator with Supermassive for the series, composed the soundtrack during COVID-19 lockdowns in the United Kingdom.

<i>Sucker for Love: First Date</i> 2022 video game

Sucker for Love: First Date is a parodic dating sim and horror-themed visual novel developed by indie developer Joseph "Akabaka" Hunter, and published by DreadXP. It was released on January 20, 2022, for Windows and December 19, 2022, for Nintendo Switch. The game revolves around a young man who obtains a pink version of the Necronomicon, and begins performing rituals to summon moe anthropomorphic beings from the Cthulhu Mythos, such as Ln'eta, a female version of Cthulhu, sacrificing his body parts and ultimately threatening the world with annihilation. The game received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised its writing, voice acting and artwork, but criticized its short length, glitches, and low emphasis on romance for a dating sim. A sequel further exploring the Cthulhu Mythos, Sucker for Love: Date to Die For, was announced later in 2022.

<i>The Sinking City 2</i> 2025 video game

The Sinking City 2 is an upcoming survival horror game developed by Frogwares and inspired by the works of horror fiction author H. P. Lovecraft. The game is a sequel to The Sinking City and the story is set in the city of Arkham during the 1920s.

References

  1. 1 2 Williams, Leah J. (March 16, 2023). "Dead Static Drive sets Q3 2024 release date". Gameshub. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  2. ↑ Nunneley-Jackson, Stephany (March 12, 2019). "Dead Static Drive, Afterparty and other indies coming to Xbox One". VG247. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Priestman, Chris (November 23, 2016). "Dead Static Drive to be a road-trip horror in vintage Americana style". Kill Screen. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Chan, Stephanie (March 22, 2018). "The IndieBeat: Dead Static Drive is 'Grand Theft Cthulhu' on Route 66". VentureBeat. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  5. ↑ Minotti, Mike (March 5, 2015). "First recipients of Epic's Unreal Dev Grants deserve every penny". VentureBeat. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  6. ↑ Smith, Adam (November 17, 2016). "Dead Static Drive takes you on a cosmic horror roadtrip". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
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.