Star Citizen creator Chris Roberts makes some bold claims regarding Cloud Imperium Games' upcoming title, comparing the game to an established titan of the industry.
Roberts drew the comparison as part of the first "10 from the Chairman" video of 2016, after being asked if Star Citizen's FPS module, Star Marine, would offer stealth gameplay to compliment its action elements. Roberts, whose studio Cloud Imperium Games has raised over $100 million in crowdfunding towards its debut title, had this to say on the subject of Star Marine design philosophy:
"We are trying to make the FPS gameplay itself be more tactical, less just 'run and gun'. Especially since it is more lethal than you would normally expect with a Call of Duty or something."
While it would normally be bold for a designer to offer up claims of this magnitude, in Roberts' case, it's especially brash. Despite Star Citizen's largely player-based support, Cloud Imperium Games has been struggling to keep all of its backers happy, leading the studio to offer Star Citizen supporters a full refund should they want to back out of their pledge to crowdfund the game. However, Roberts backed up the comparison with some more details regarding what players can expect once Star Marine is fully functional:
"We actually have some gadgets which are good for stealth and distractions, they're just not in 2.0 yet...we are going to have definite things that will help you with hiding your radar and noise signature, or heat signature, and stuff like that...we definitely want that."
Roberts' statement that the gadgets aren't "in 2.0 yet" refers to the recent release of Star Citizen Alpha 2.0, the latest version of the work-in-progress title that is available to all gamers who have pledged support to its development. Despite the relatively unclear wording, as "more lethal" could refer to any number of game features, Roberts at least clarified the overall game plan that the developers working on Star Citizen want to infuse the FPS component with, stating that the team envisions a game that is "much more tactical" than the average FPS.
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Of course, it's easy to forget amidst all the hype constantly generated for Cloud Imperium Games' ambitious project that the Star Marine module was actually supposed to launch last year before being delayed indefinitely. Star Citizen has been a constant source of mixed signals, with troubling delays emerging one week while renowned celebrities like Mark Hamill discuss how fun it is to work on Star Citizen the next. The result has been a title with an identity and fan response still very much up in the air as patient backers continue to play the waiting game.
Still, Cloud Imperium Games has to be doing something right, as Star Citizen continues to capture fan interest worldwide and even inspired one gamer to spend over $30,000 on Star Citizen in-game items and digital purchases. That kind of dedication doesn't just accidentally happen, and while the wait for one of the most widely anticipated sci-fi games in recent memory continues to drag on, it's moments like one fan spending some people's yearly salary on a video game that remind us just how big Star Citizen could be when, or if, it finally releases.
Are you one of the people who has contributed towards the $100 million raised towards Star Citizen so far? How confident are you in the quality of the game at this point, and looking forward? Let us know in the comments below.
Star Citizen's full release is expected sometime in 2016 for PC and Linux, with Oculus Rift support.