When it comes to Kickstarter campaigns, standout indie game developers are known for getting rather entrepreneurial. Few, however, can match the delightfully gonzo bag of tricks Strafe’s marketing team has at their disposal.
Strafe, a first-person shooter by Los Angeles-based indie developer Pixel Titans with an aesthetic recalling Doom, Wolfenstein, and other gloriously 32-bit PC games of the mid-1990s, is in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign seeking to raise just over $185,000 by February 19. Started just yesterday, the campaign is already seeing funding in the tens of thousands. Described by its creators as “the fastest, bloodiest, deadliest, most adjective-abusing, action-packed first-person shooter of 1996”, Strafe’s aggressive roll-out includes a trailer befitting of a Cronenberg film.
The trailer, as retro-campy as it is gleefully violent, mixes gameplay footage with a story of a boy’s obsession with the game, his younger brother’s fated desire to play, and their harried mother caught up in the unfolding madness. If ever there were a spot likely to make you think “Long live the new flesh!”, this would be it.
It would seem that Strafe’s developers are courting gamers with an offbeat sense of humor who might be jaded by gaming’s reliance on graphics as a marketing tool at times. Nostalgia is a powerful thing, something Strafe is aware of with its 90s-heavy aesthetic. As “core” gamers continue to be attracted to PC gaming, the fact Strafe was built for both PC and Oculus is notable. Oculus’ promise of a beautiful and immersive gaming VR future has inspired a huge base of fanboys and Pixel Titans is betting on them.
Strafe’s advertised features include “BILLIONS of level possibilities”, Oculus Rift compatibility, and “UBER-GORE Tech for ludicrously persistent gibs”. If their funding goal is reached, Strafe’s developers are offering silly incentives like customized AOL buddy icons and “EARLY SHAREWARE ACCESS”.
