New Novel/Gaming Tie-In Coming To Steam In 2014
Videogame and Movie tie-ins are a dime a dozen, but games related to novels still remains somewhat of a rare occurrence. Today, UK development team RedBedlam have announced a new partnership with Scottish novelist Christopher Brookmyre, which will see the games company producing a first-person shooter game entitled Bedlam, that mirrors events from the book of the same name.
Bedlam was published in hardback form in February this year, and will see a paperback release early in 2014 – before the game is due to launch on Steam next Summer. In the book and the game, the protagonist plays an ordinary man who has become a faceless videogame goon – not the chiseled hero that gamers are used to controlling – and must escape from being wiped out by said hero character, whilst uncovering a web of intrigue.
The novel is also comedic as well as serious, and both it and the game inspired by it will pay homage to many videogame genres and icons along the way. Christopher Brookmyre said of the project:
“A lot of my writing has been inspired by videogames and it has always been a big part of my life. When the guys at RedBedlam got in touch to see if I was interested in creating a game with them, I jumped at the chance and have since been consistently thrilled to see my own literary worlds visualised so accurately… Bedlam is a tribute to gaming in all its forms and the part it has played in all our lives – as well as being a top quality FPS adventure in itself. I look forward to seeing more of these fantastic characters and worlds fully realised and I think people are going to really enjoy what we’ve put together.”
This all sounds like an interesting way to tie together the two different forms of media, and hopefully the success of one will rub off on the other. Story-driven gaming titles have been seeing somewhat on a renaissance in recent times, so the involvement of a popular writer in this game can only help build a strong plot and help the game develop. It will be exciting to see how this project evolves as we get closer to its Summer 2014 release window.
See a gallery of Screenshots and Artwork from the game below:
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Robin Parker
If I'm not playing on a good Adventure Game - still longing for the long-past Golden Age of the genre, when Lucasarts and Sierra ruled supreme - you might find me searching for a local arcade, in the hopes that it still houses titles such as Sunset Riders or WindJammers.
