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Bedlam
Award-winning Scottish crime novelist Christopher Brookmyre is working with developer UK developer RedBedlam to bring his upcoming novel Bedlam into the video game world.
Brookmyre's novel, Bedlam, will be available on January 21, and the game, which shares the name and premise of the book, will be available summer 2014.
The plot follows a regular man who, after undergoing a series a tests, finds himself as a minor "cannon fodder" background character in a video game. Described as a "generation-spanning FPS," developer RedBedlam is also promising that the game will venture into other genres including arcade platforming to the modern RTS.
You can check out the full press release for the game and novel on page two, as well as a gallery of images and screenshots from the game below.
Acclaimed author Christopher Brookmyre and Brighton-based developer RedBedlam unveil partnership for first true videogame / novel tie-in
From 80s platform games to modern day shooters: Bedlam set to hit Steam in 2014
London, December 11th 2013: UK developer RedBedlam has today unveiled details of Bedlam, an ambitious, original first-person shooter written in collaboration with the acclaimed Scottish novelist Christopher Brookmyre.
Developed in association with Standfast Interactive, the generation-spanning FPS takes players into a unique world of action and intrigue, visiting a range of genres old and new, from arcade platformer classics to modern RTS and shooter environments, all from a first person perspective and with a smattering of Brookmyre’s trademark dark humour.
Christopher Brookmyre has written 18 critically acclaimed novels and won numerous awards for his works, also appearing regularly on primetime radio and TV. His love of videogames has manifested in countless references and now, for the first time, in a fully-formed first person shooter that itself pays tribute to a wealth of iconic titles.
The videogame Bedlam mirrors the events from the book, which will be published in paperback on January 21st 2014. The plot sees the player, a regular man with a regular job, subjected to a variety of tests only to wake in a videogame world in which he is not in fact the mythical hero so often seen in gaming, but a grunt designed purely to be cannon fodder for someone else. In attempting to find out how this has happened and what strange space he is in, the player progresses through a variety of familiar gaming worlds, relentlessly pursued by an enigmatic predator, an organisation known as Integrity that will be rid of him at all costs...
“Having always been a fan of Christopher’s novels, we’re hugely excited to be working with him on this unique project,” said Nick Witcher, Marketing Director at RedBedlam. “With such a talented mind behind the invention of the game world and writing the game itself, it’s going to be a tremendous title that surfaces in 2014.”
“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,” said Christopher Brookmyre. “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.”
Bedlam, the novel, is available on paperback from January 21st in all good book stores. With the game set to appear on Steam in the summer of 2014 and with another two novel / game tie-ins planned, the partnership between RedBedlam and Brookmyre looks set to take the gaming world by storm, with a new direction in plot-driven game design.
About RedBedlam
RedBedlam Ltd. was founded in 2001 in order to create virtual worlds and to realise virtual economies. The company spent approximately five years developing its proprietary virtual world and virtual economics technologies alongside its first commercial virtual world, Roma Victor®, which was released in 2006. RedBedlam's other MMORPG The Missing Ink launched in beta in 2012. RedBedlam's virtual world technology is licensed by a number of clients including the popular kids virtual world and social network - www.dpals.com/ RedBedlam is a fully independent privately held company. For more on Bedlam please visit www.bedlamthegame.com.
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