So why exactly are we remaking Wrack? I mean... the game was fine, right? Sure, it might not have been the best-selling, most popular game of all time, but it had some good things going for it. Would you be here reading this if it was all bad?
Well...
While it wasn't all bad, the bottom line is this: Wrack didn't live up to its potential. It was plagued with all sorts of issues, from a lousy checkpoint system, to a shoehorned in combo system, and everything in between. Just about everything needed to be re-imagined and rebuilt from the ground up. It needed a reclamation project; and so, we began working on... a game we're not going to talk about right now.
But, while working on that game, we were approached by our current publisher (Red Deer Games) about doing a console port of the original Wrack. Because the original game was made using a custom-made engine (for reasons unknown), a simple port wasn't going to be that feasible. The game was going to have to be re-created in something like Unreal Engine (which we opted to use).
I pitched them the idea of simply publishing the new Wrack game we were working on - rather than subject a new audience to the unrelenting bag of nightmares that was the original game (wait a second - I thought it wasn't all bad!). Although they weren't interested in that, we reached a compromise: remake the content of the original Wrack game, but with all the improvements of the next Wrack game. The result? You'll never guess!
... okay, you probably did guess that.
And you know what? It's been great for everyone involved! First, you are getting a new game with all new mechanics, audio, artwork... the whole nine yards, which I'll dive into in a future post. Plus, you don't even have to wait that long (it should be out this year!). It's been great for us too, because it's given us a project with a more limited scope where we can polish more effectively, and learn as we go. Finally, it's great for Red Deer because it'll let them test to see if this series is right for them without a massive commitment.
The Demo
But hey, don't take my word for it! Try it for yourself... well, maybe not right now, but on Friday when the Wrack Remake Demo comes out! You'll be able to play the first couple of levels and see how far the game has come.
Want to check it out as soon as it comes out? Then be sure to add it to your wishlist!