Ice-Pick Lodge is pleased to announce the public release of Pathologic teaser game, The Marble Nest, along with a new trailer showcasing the game and its warped, ethereal world. Available free on Steam.
The Marble Nest, a separate game set parallel to the main story, was previously available only to backers of the Pathologic Kickstarter campaign, which raised almost $335,000. The several-hour-long experience is designed to give players an introduction to this strange town, destroyed by an ungodly plague.
Pathologic – a complete re-imagining of the cult classic of the same name – mixes roleplaying, adventure and survival mechanics to tell its dark and dreamlike story. The Marble Nest features some (although by no means all) of the genre-fusing mechanics that will feature in the full Pathologic game when it releases later this year for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
“We started working on what became The Marble Nest as an internal prototype, but it quickly blossomed into something we felt was representative of the tone and style of Pathologic,” explained producer Ivan Solvtsov.
He added: “We gave it to Kickstarter backers in late 2016 as a surprise gift, and it went down really well – but we also got some really fantastic feedback from those early players. So we decided to polish up the game based on that feedback, and release it to the world, as a taster of what people can expect when the full game launches later in 2017.”
Ice-Pick Lodge’s 2005 original cult classic won several ‘Game of the Year’ awards in its native Russia, and this new version is a complete re-imagining, redesigned from the ground up. In an old settlement on the steppe, attempt to survive, investigate and cure a mysterious disease – while navigating the otherworldly characters and strange politics of the town, and attempting to survive as the epidemic runs riot.
Pathologic will release for PS4, Xbox One and PC in the Fall of 2017.
ABOUT PATHOLOGIC
In an old settlement on the steppe, attempt to survive, investigate and cure a mysterious disease. Absorb yourself in a cast of fascinating characters. Care for the sick while solving the riddle of what’s killing them. But in the decaying world of Pathologic, staying alive for long enough might be the biggest challenge of all…
In this genre-defying nightmare from Ice-Pick Lodge, you’ll spend 12 days in a town that’s being crippled by an unfathomable disease – one that defies all medical logic and confounds those who try to resolve it. As a healer sent to find a cure, you’ll also need to navigate the town’s unusual culture and traditions, deal with its ruthless economy, and negotiate with the conflicting families that govern this isolated population.
Will you give to the needy or hoard resources for yourself? Will you take one life to save a thousand? Who can you trust? How can you stop the strange plague’s merciless spread across this once quiet settlement?
Pathologic mixes roleplaying, adventure and survival mechanics to tell its dark and dreamlike story. You have twelve days. The people of the town are depending on you.
Features
•A large open-world spanning the whole town and its surroundings
•Three playable characters, each with a unique perspective on events
•A deep, intricate and mysterious story to uncover
•A cast of fascinating NPCs, who respond to your actions
•Survive by managing your hunger, fatigue and immunity
•Brain or brawn: do you talk or fight your way out of trouble?
•A simulated epidemic that evolves and develops in real-time
•Navigate a realistic economy that responds to events in the game
•Up to 72 hours of bleak and harrowing gameplay