Nefarious asks a single question: what it is like being the bad guy? We’ve all played the classic games: Mario, Legend of Zelda, Double Dragon, etc., where you are tasked with rescuing the princess or other damsels in distress from the main villain. Well, what’s the process the villain goes through to kidnap the princess? Interesting to ponder, isn’t it? It’ll probably make a fun game, too.
Nefarious stars Crow, who is described like this:
Crow prides himself on being a classic villain. His hobbies include putting damsels in distress, trying to take over the world, and building giant robots to do his bidding for him. Crow is a professional antagonist and takes his job of organized menace very seriously.
Who hires someone for organized menace anyway? Is he self-employed? Must be a pretty lucrative business if he can afford to build giant robots. Still, sounds like a fun character. It makes me wonder if he’s going to be more menacing, or more just-for-the-fun-of-it villain.
Nefarious is a project by Josh Hano, artist on a number of small games. His portfolio shows some interesting concept art for the game. Whether or not the video the team posted on Kickstarter is a fully playable state, it’s clear that Josh and his team have been working on this project for some time. The animations look really good, and the game is definitely in a state that we can start talking about it.
There is some pre-alpha gameplay footage, and it looks like a unique take on the platforming genre. Usually, you are running headlong into an enemy fortress. In Nefarious, it looks like the princess’s security forces are chasing after you. It makes a lot of sense, plus it will be a fresh idea if the team can make attacking behind you while running as seamless an experience as attacking while running forward in most other games. And looking at the way the bomb works, which seems to be the primary weapon of the game, it just might pull it off.
Possibly the most interesting aspect of the game revealed right now is the reverse boss battles. Normally, you’d be fighting against the villain in a giant robot suit, but since you’re the villain, you get to control the giant robot suit to stop the hero. If that doesn’t excite you, I don’t know what will.
The Nefarious Kickstarter is asking for $50,000, and at time of writing, they’ve raised $17,000. So not a bad start, and they’re early in their funding phase. The game is currently slated to come out on Windows/Mac/Linux PCs and Wii U. Whether or not other platforms are in the cards is unrevealed.
Want to help out with the Nefarious campaign? Check out their Kickstarter page.
