28 Jun, 2011
It’s December, year 2034. With the threat of Global warming becoming a reality, disease and natural disasters run rampant across the globe. Following an asteroid impact in a small town named Silver City, a woman named Lana awakens. Lana surveys the town around her: there’s chaos with a side of violence, rage, wreckage, and death.
Sound interesting? Then get ready for the latest survival horror game. From the mind of Paul Cuisset, the creative director responsible for bringing to life France’s best-selling game Flashback is now giving us Amy. You play as Lana, a woman who is trying to piece together just what happened in the sleepy little town of Silver City. The asteroid didn’t just cause widespread panic, it’s also the cause of a dangerous new virus, transforming normal people into monsters that patrol the streets in droves.
As Lana, you’ve become infected as well and the transformation has already started on you. Either you must locate special equipment strewn about from soldiers who have found their way into the town, or you must find the girl Amy.
But who exactly is Amy? As far as we know, Amy is an autistic little girl who is more than just the title character and someone that follows you around. You can use her during the course of the game to access areas that wouldn’t allow an adult to fit into. You can also hold her hand, which allows you to feel her heart beat as a stress meter for the dangerous locations you may be exploring. As you progress, you discover that being near Amy allows you to heal and even halts the progression of the infection.
Why autism though? In an interview with Edge Magazine, Cuisset was tight-lipped about this decision. However, he did hint that the autism is an important detail that players should not overlook. “As a player, you will learn and understand why Amy has this condition,” said Cuisset.
First slated to be a PlayStation Network exclusive, developing studio Vector Cell has since stated on its Facebook page that Amy will also be released on Xbox Live and also for the PC, although the PC release will be about a month or so after XBLA and PSN.
So what can we expect out of this downloadable title? Plenty of scares, that’s for sure. In a PlayStation Blog post early last week, the developer sat down and discussed what we should be seeing out of this game, due out sometime this summer. “One of our goals is to make you feel the fragility of Lana and Amy,” said Vector Cell. “Lana is not trained to fight; Amy is just a kid. But you can try to avoid your enemies, for example, by hiding in a closet or under a table. While hiding, you can spy on your pursuers…but be careful!”
While you do have the option of trying to kill your deformed pursuers, sometimes it might be wiser to run and hide, and wait until they’ve moved on. Since Lana has already been infected, you can also use this to your advantage. If moving slowly, you could pass as an infected being, but this also means that if any surviving soldiers see you, they’ll shoot on sight. “Most of the enemies are able to communicate with each other so if one spots you, the others will rush in to attack,” said Vector Cell. “If you’re clever, you can exploit their intelligence to deceive them and trigger a fight between soldiers and infected humans.”
For a downloadable game, Amy is already showing us great promise by allowing us to pick and choose how we’ll be approaching the situation. It certainly won’t skimp on graphical details either.
Check out this short demo trailer, presented by Paul Cuisset, depicting the infection in its various stages and effects on protagonist Lana:
Are you intrigued yet? We are. There is no solid release date for Amy, but be prepared to have the &@*! scared out of you soon on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and PC.
To know more, keep up with the official Facebook Page and check out Vector Cell’s PlayStation blog post for more information.
Read Paul Cuisset’s interview with Edge Magazine Online.
Via Rely on Horror.
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