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Cthulhu Saves The World Coming To Xbox Live Indie Channel

by Matt Miller on Jun 25, 2010 at 11:20 AM

A brand new 8-bit/16-bit style RPG is coming to 360 starring everyone's favorite world-devouring monster from beyond time and space.

Zeboyd Games is targeting the new game, Cthulhu Saves the World, for an August release on the Xbox Live Indie Games channel. The game will sell for a whopping $3. Zeboyd previously released Breath of Death VII: The Beginning, which you can play right now for only a dollar.

Cthulhu Saves the World concerns itself with the tale of the monstrous, octopus-headed sticky spawn of the stars after his power is sealed away by a group of heroes. To get these powers back, Cthulhu is forced to temporarily become a hero and join with a party of adventurers to save the world. In keeping with the H.P. Lovecraft mythology, characters are able to inflict insanity on their enemies. In addition, many of the monsters in the game are culled from Lovecraftian lore.



Like Breath of Death VII, Zeboyd's new game plays out like a classic console RPG with more than a little bit of parody thrown into the mix. Players wander the world, explore dungeons, buy items in town, and level up. Also returning is native 720p support.  Unlike the last game from Zeboyd, this new project includes 480i/p support for SDTVs, parallax scrolling graphics, and actual backgrounds during battle scenes. The game is planned to be 6-10 hours long, and will include multiple difficulties, plus post-game modes like Score Attack and the intriguingly titled Highlander mode.

The game includes seven playable characters, including a sentient floating sword named Sharpe, an alien cat called Paws (a warrior/mage who specializes in the use of gunclaws), a senile old man who goes by the name Dacre, and others, including that dark consciousness on the edge of reality known as Cthulhu.

If the game is anything like its predecessor, Cthulhu Saves the World will be a great trek into the fond memories many gamers have for early console RPGs. Plus, despite the humorous trappings, the battle system seems to have a good bit of complexity, including combo building, passive abilities, and special unite techniques that allow players to work together to take down foes with a single strike.

We'll keep you clued in as we hear about other independent projects that seem to be worth a look.