Cloud Chamber Preview
Developer Investigate North
Publisher Investigate North
Platform PC
Release Date July 2014
“In Cloud Chamber, the science is real; the story is fiction; and the truth about Space unknown.”
Cloud Chamber is a “Massively Multiplayer Online Story Game” in which you navigate a strange 3D database and collaborate with others online to solve a 40 year old mystery. Investigate North(the creators behind Cloud Chamber) are an experienced team of developers, having developed and delivered more than 35 online storytelling projects over the course of 10 years.
The highly anticipated Cloud Chamber follows the story of Kathleen Petersen over 10 playable 3D levels. The young scientist and her team are documenting their search as they try to uncover a dark secret held that has been held by the large prestigious Peterson Institute (headed by her father, Gustav Petersen) for over four decade.
The players are required to do some detective work as they navigate across the huge database filled with varying pieces of media that have been “uploaded”. This includes pieces from written notes, transcripts of conversations and video footage.
Cloud Chamber uses an unusual method of progression as there is no traditional path through the game from solving puzzles alone. The longer you spend with the game the more pieces of evidence you will unlock. This media then becomes available for analysis and discussion among the other players in the community who must then try and piece together what happened. In short, the collaborative aspect of this game turns its players into a global think tank to help solve the mystery.
This is done through discussion boards that allow you to read through other players’ comments, reply to threads, and vote on comments you like or dislike. If the posts are popular with other players, or were influential in progressing further through the story the poster is rewarded with badges in-game. This is the rabbit hole you will get lost in as minutes turn to hours in the blink of an eye.
The game itself isn’t a game in the usual sense, according to Christian Fonnesbech the Director of Cloud Chamber. “It crosses the boundaries between a game, a story, and a social media portal” which would probably place the game in a genre all on its own however, it hasn’t been defined yet as to what it actually is a problem that is also facing other trans-media projects.
Overall: With Cloud Chamber, Investigate North deliver to us a surreal story packed with real science and research. This is combined with the opportunity to voice your perceptions and questions with others across the continents turning this into a true collaborative experience that will not soon be forgotten, and not to be missed.
Cloud Chamber launches this month and will be available through Steam.
By Claire Curtin.
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