Howdy Agents,
I’m Brandon, localization editor and narrative designer at Ocean Drive.
Blackout Protocol is entering early access on July 19, and we’re all super excited for you to get in there and start blastin’ some zombos. As part of our pre-launch preparations, I’ve been asked to grab a pick-axe and come work a shift in the Content mines.
So today we’re gonna talk about the game’s setting.
Our studio’s first game, Lost Eidolons, is a story-heavy behemoth of a tactical RPG. Blackout Protocol ain’t like that. This is a fast, fun multiplayer game that’s light on words and heavy on bullets. But like any good multiplayer game, it’s got a flavorful world that sets a strong mood.
And that mood is: oh f*** oh f*** OH F*** AHHHHHH NO GET AWAY
In Blackout Protocol, you’ll play as an employee of The S2P Corporation: a shadowy, globe-spanning organization dedicated to the containment and study of Quarantined Entities (also known as QT’s) for science and profit.
But mostly science. Promise.
The jewel in S2P’s crown? Section 13 a remote research base located somewhere in the American southwest, with a purpose so top-secret even most of the people who work there don’t know what it is.
Normally that kind of compartmentalization works great. In a crisis? Not so much.
Now the QT’s are loose, the eldritch ichor’s hitting the fan, the whole place is on lockdown, and nobody on the outside knows what’s going on. Even worse? It’s a weekend, so all the real badasses are off the clock!
And so, it’s up to you — the best of the rest — to grab a flashlight, strap on a holster, and get on in there, champ.
But don’t worry. S2P doesn’t just send its valuable team-members into certain death without taking precautions. You know that slight stinging sensation you felt in the base of your skull about five minutes ago? That was senior management activating your Death Nullification chip.
What’s that, you ask? A cutting-edge quantum medical device, which ensures that any time you die during a field mission, your consciousness will zip backwards in time to the start — retaining certain skills and abilities, but jettisoning all those pesky productivity-killing memories of being disemboweled by a former coworker in a dimly-lit parking garage.
Or, yknow, whatever silly stuff happened in there. The past is the past! Don’t think about it too much. Just get back on that horse, cowboy up, and have fun with it.
And if you can, try to collect some good data while you’re in there.
You know. For science.
– ODS Brandon
