Icelandic indie studio Aeriform has released a vertical slice demo of its Mega Drive / Genesis point-and-click adventure, The Ark.
Heavily inspired by the Alien media franchise, the game will focus on the Y.C.V. ECHO and its crew of Yutani engineers – Willows, Marsson, Moss, and Hirsch – who encounter "a colossal space-faring entity that has travelled from the darkest corner of the void."
When they cross paths with another craft, the D.S.E.V. LEVENE, the crew must join forces with fellow Yutani staffers Clark, Burns, Ellis, Garland, and Song in order to explore the alien ship.
The game will be divided into two sections – first-person and third-person – and the new demo includes the opening 'narrative segment' of the game to give players a flavour of what the finished release will look like.
"The later intention is that the majority of the main game will be played in a point & click adventure, with exploration and puzzle solving, with first person narrative sections needed to traverse sections of various ships, emphasising the feeling of claustrophobia," say the developers.
Coded, written and illustrated by 'flame' (with additional visuals by diegzumillo), The Ark is described as "an original story inspired heavily by the Alien series universe." The team is keen to point out that this isn't an officially licensed piece of work, and that "some of the names and scenarios may need to change" before its final release."
You can download the demo here.