Lost in Trans-Civilization

Scivelation Logo

A few months back, we brandished our interest towards BWF Game’s little-known upcoming Source engine project, Salvation. Just goes to show how swift the turnover rate is in the gaming business these days: Over the course of mere months, the game has now been rebranded as Scivelation, and instead of the previously utilized Valve tools, is now built on Epic Games’ Unreal III Engine.

“Set in the distant future, Scivelation’s universe is a world born out of the ashes of conflict and misery. An oppressive global dictatorship, known as the Regime, has risen to power after the aftermath of the Apocalypse; aggressively seeking out and eliminating any opposition to their tyrannical government.” 1)http://ve3tro.com/6213/scivelation-announced/

Scivelation_01_wallpaperFor me, the rather obscure mash-up title – Griffin McElroy already lamented the lack of a proper pronunciation guide 2)http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/11/scivelation-announced-but-poorly-pronounced/ – recalls the word skive (also rarely spelled as scive, according to the OED), which means “To evade a duty, to shirk; to avoid work by absenting oneself, to play truant.” Whether this is BWF Game’s intended meaning remains to be seen, of course, but with the player character taking “his or her place amongst the ranks of the resistance” 3)http://ve3tro.com/6213/scivelation-announced/ in the narrative, this interpretation of the title does not seem an immense stretch of imagination for me.

After the jump, I have set up a modest comparison of screenshots between the two versions (Source and Unreal), and some more analysis about the game.

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Salivating for Salvation

We have a great affinity here for the Source engine. Now that Arkane’s The Crossing is indefinitely off everyone’s waiting list, now’s as good a time as any to bring up another project that inhabits the same register: Salvation from Black Wing Foundation.

Salvation Narumi

Where the Knights Templar seize control of the French crown in The Crossing, in Salvation, a secret society forces its members to take part in a penal cyberspace split into two separate realms: Heaven and Hell. In the former, users are uploaded torment and pain, and in the latter, otherworldly bliss; In both, the prisoners die:

In a world of ashes, where angels are walking among people. There’s only one god, one reason… one truth. In a world of future, where heaven and hell are so real… there’s no doubt, no sin… and no escape. 1)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_mn5_BWFt0

After the jump, a teaser trailer and screenshots bundled with more information on the game.

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