Frontiers Reach is not my dream game...
If ever you have heard me say this, or read a blog post where I stated this, then maybe you've been wondering what exactly I meant by it. Or maybe you're just now reading it and thinking to yourself why I would say such a thing.
Today I will elaborate.
Back in 2015 I had a vision.
This vision was inspired by a game called Destiny. A game that had many elements I loved dearly, and that wanted to see expanded upon. The key element of which was the concept of a golden age where in humanity reached for the stars. But that golden age ended with a massive war that caused humanity a great deal of suffering and wiped out much of humanities progress.
2 years later, another game came out called Ghost Recon : Wildlands. It was a new take on the old Tom Clancy IP and while there were some problems I personally found the new direction they went with to be a breathe of fresh air, and something that I had personally thought about doing. But with a setting in a science fiction universe akin Destiny.
In Frontiers Reach 1, we are currently in the midst of the end of the golden age of exploration and expansion. This period will be known as the age of tarnish and the Frontier War. An era of great conflict with humanity divided in its very first interstellar civil war.
But way out on the fringes.
On a moon called Frontiers Reach.
Something stirs beneath the surface.
Disturbed by a group of mercenaries.
Years before a new type of mercenary was born. The Tombwalkers. They got their start as simple mercenaries who made fortunes for themselves diving into the depths of a subterranean alien structure known as The Catacombs. Which in the early days of their fortune seeking was only accessible via a drilling rig that discovered a vast network of underground tunnels and chambers while searching for subterranean pools of mist beneath the surface of the moon Frontiers Reach. For many years it was the only structure of its kind that could be accessed. And the name Tombwalker was given to those who become legendary at navigating the labyrinthian passages of chambers, halls, and traps crawling with hostile life forms and the remnant of the Sol Confederacy expeditions that came before them.
A team of Tombwalkers making their way across a bridge between chambers.
One of many platforms where the Vir store equipment and supplies for the innumerable soldiers in hibernation. That they may one day be awoken in a time of great need from their empire.
Then one day a team of researchers attempting learn more about the alien structures finally opened another site elsewhere on the moon. But it, like the original Catacombs, was just as dangerous and lethal to explore as any other. And so they put the call out to any mercenary group that was brave enough to try their hand at the profession of Tombwalking to explore these new catacombs.
One of those groups to answer the call would be a mercenary group made up of you, the players, as you hop around the frontier looking for every opportunity you can find to make a living.
This new adventure which I've been planning since 2015 will require new tools, equipment, and vehicles to win the day as you battle against an alien menace that has been disturbed from its slumber deep beneath the surface of Frontiers Reach. This alien menace is known as the Vir. And they are thousands of years old and far more advanced than humanity. But their advancement and humanities are such that human technology is not completely irrelevant. And so there is a chance for humanity to stand against the tide. And this conflict with the Vir will be humanities first major conflict with an extraterrestrial species that is beyond humanities ability to comprehend.
The Vir foot soldier is the basic combat platform of the biomechanical terrors buried beneath Frontiers Reach. In these vast networks of hallways and chambers, they rest in coffin like containers embedded into the walls.
Early concept for the Vir fleet.
Early concept for a Vir fighter
To fight back against the Vir you'll have new fighters at your disposal. Two of these fighters have already been concepted. They represent the 4th generation of cheap fighters brought out to the frontier by new waves of colonists seeking new lives on new worlds in the decades following the end of the Frontier War.
And since Frontiers Reach 2 will include the ability to get out of the cockpit and explore what's on the ground and beneath it, you'll need a set of wheels to get around on.
And of course, some new weapons and armor to protect yourself while you're on the ground. Here is a look at the first of many.
Of course, relics left over from the Frontier War will also be available. Some of which will be in use only by pirate and raider factions who have scavenged the wreckage in the decades after. And others which may offer advantages that even the newer equipment cannot. Built with technology and knowledge that has been lost to the throes of time.
A Frontier War era helmet
Frontier War era rifle
A pair of S-27cu Razorbacks built by pirates using old Wildboar airframes salvaged from a long forgotten battlefield.
A Sol Confederacy Assault Automaton. Expensive to maintain and difficult to find parts for they are typically used by mercenary groups that can afford the.
Frontiers Reach 2 is still a ways off for the time being. And right now the focus is primarily on Frontiers Reach 1 and an offshoot title that I'm not yet prepared to make an announcement for. In the mean time, if you want to support the efforts towards making FR2 a reality, the best thing you can do is join in on FR1. Everything being built for FR1 will be migrated to FR2 in some form as it is the foundation of a new frontier.
Till next time pilots, happy hooning!