You may not have heard of Question before, but you’ll most certainly have heard of the work that their team were behind. With the likes of BioShock 2, BioShock Infinite and Dishonored in their back catalogue, the unveiling of The Blackout Club should certainly be enough to excite.
Due for release on Xbox One in Q1 2019, The Blackout Club has been created by a team of industry veterans including the Creative Director and Lead Writer of BioShock 2, the Senior Gameplay Programmer of Dishonored, and the Lead Effects Artist for BioShock Infinite. Are you ready for some cooperative paranormal horror mystery?
Set in a small town with a monstrous secret, The Blackout Club follows a group of teens who band together after learning they’ve all been temporarily losing consciousness – waking up in strange places with no memory of what they have done. Recently, one of their closest friends vanished entirely. When none of their parents, teachers, or even the police are willing to believe them, the friends launch an investigation. Together they will discover a maze of tunnels – a hostile underworld filled with hypnotic music and populated by a clandestine group of adults – all beneath their seemingly idyllic suburbs.
To save their community and themselves, the teens will need to capture the conspiracy on camera and prove its existence to the world. Up to four players will sneak out of their homes and go on surveillance missions filled with procedurally-generated elements including variable objectives, enemy encounters, loot drops, and more. Every night will be a different adventure as the team seeks out additional clues and explores new parts of their neighborhood and its ominous underbelly. The club must trust no one as they get closer to finding out what happened to their missing friend — and the cause of their uncontrollable blackouts.
Surviving the dangers of night will require intelligence, improvisation, and skill. Sleepwalking adults that could be their neighbors or relatives now seek to drag them underground. Players must create and coordinate diversions and use other tactics to break the enemy’s vice-like grip. The last player left standing must avoid attracting the attention of an even more dangerous entity – one that pursues its prey relentlessly – one that can’t be seen with open eyes…
Player characters will be customizable with a variety of powers and equipment loadouts. Every member of the group will play a distinct role and utilize devices like drones or deployable traps to outwit their foes and gather evidence of their crimes. When the mission is complete, players will head back to the hideout, where they can level up and acquire new abilities for use on future outings.
“In The Blackout Club, the horror genre comes home,” said Jordan Thomas, Co-Founder, Question LLC. “Our story is about vulnerable heroes — for whom co-op gameplay is a matter of survival — who unite to save their friends. We love expressive systems, where you shape the game experience as you see fit, often versus a whole ecosystem of intelligent threats. And now, they’re right next door – in a familiar, modern town, where the monster wears a human face. We can’t wait for you to meet it.”
The Blackout Club will be arriving in Q1 2019 and if you’re as excited by the prospect of it as us, it’ll certainly be worth keeping an eye on.
