Melbourne is full of talented and creative indie developers that are always hard at work on unique and interesting projects. One such project is Conscript, a game that is billed as “Resident Evil and Silent Hill meet in the trenches of the First World War.”
Being developed by Melbourne-based developer Catchweight Studio – the moniker for 23-year-old student JD, Conscript has been in development since 2017 with JD is currently running a Kickstarter to help fund the rest of the game’s development. The campaign has currently raised A$17,272 of its A$30,000 goal, with the campaign set to finish on July 24.
The campaign lists the game’s elevator pitch as the following:
CONSCRIPT is an upcoming indie game inspired by classic survival horror titles such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill – with a unique topdown perspective and WW1 setting. CONSCRIPT will blend all the punishing mechanics of older survival horror games into a cohesive, tense experience that fans of such titles won’t forget.
“Classic survival horror has long been one of my favourite genres,” says JD. “Silent Hill 1-4 and Resident Evil 1-4 have been my biggest inspirations. I’m intent on recreating the spirit of such games in Conscript. The purposeful design, narrative, intricate map layouts, oppressive atmosphere. Everything.”
Set 1916, Conscript tells the story of Andre, who along with his brother Pierre, has been conscripted to fight in World War 1 in the French Army. After Andre and Pierre’s regiment is raided by German soldiers, Andre wakes to find Pierre missing and endeavours to find him, and in doing so experiences the horrors of war. Fans of the aforementioned survival horror classics will recognise the game’s influences instantly but will also find JD’s own spin on the overall experience. The game is scheduled to release on PC in 2021.
Players can try Conscript before they pledge, with the game’s demo available on both Steam and itch.io. Otherwise you can check out the game’s trailer below to see if it loosens the purse strings:
Despite a childhood playing survival horrors, point and clicks and beat ’em ups, these days Zach tries to convince people that Homefront: The Revolution is a good game while pining for a sequel to The Order: 1886 and a live-action Treasure Planet film. Carlton, Burnley FC & SJ Sharks fan. Get around him on Twitter @tightinthejorts
