He’s a koala. He’s a detective. He’s utterly hangover. He needs your help. And he’s coming to Xbox One this summer. Are you ready for STONE?
Announced today by the team at Convict Games, STONE will be found bringing some koala-based Aussie noir adventure fun to Xbox One in the summer of 2019.
STONE is a noir story that sees us following a rather loveable koala who just so happens to get through life in his role as a private investigator. But this is one guy who likes a drink and it’ll be up to him, and you, to piece together his fragmented memory in order to discover what is what. However, just as he thinks things couldn’t get any worse, Stone receives an ominous call threatening to upheave his entire life, just as he realises his “chookie” Alex, a lorikeet raver and artist, is nowhere to be found.
From there STONE will unfold as an interactive adventure, featuring an eccentric cast of anthropomorphic characters and absolutely no frustratingly flow-killing esoteric puzzles. As Stone stumbles through Oldtown, a place teeming with bars, clubs, theatres and more, players can take a “Hard-Ass” or “Soft Touch” approach while interrogating a menagerie of talking animals with bad attitudes and a deep repertoire of Australian slang, all as he tries to understand what the hell happened that previous night.
“STONE is an interactive story I’ve always wanted to tell and play. I wrote, direct, programmed, funded and produced the entire project, and it feels incredibly liberating to break free and to release STONE completely independently.” said writer, director and Chief Convict Greg Louden of Convict Games.
But it gets weirder still and throughout your time in Stone’s life, you will have the chance to take a much-needed break by engaging in side activities including dancing to brick-in-a-washing machine techno, drinking beer or cocktails, making beats, taking a smoke, and even watching some public domain classic films.
“STONE may not be for everyone, but we hope it’s wild, artistic nature, and Australian influences resonate with those craving a narrative unafraid to ‘go there,’” said Louden. “For STONE, we’ve been tapping into the influential works of counterculture icons including Charles Bukowski, Hunter S. Thompson and Thomas Pynchon, classic stoner noir films such as The Big Lebowski and Inherent Vice, and other narrative-driven games including Firewatch and Grim Fandango.”
It’s not just about the story though and music is a big feature of STONE, with a heavily-curated soundtrack featuring licensed tracks from several upcoming indie artists around the world. Each song was chosen to reflect the myriad moods in STONE’s story and explores diverse genres such as hip-hop, stoner metal, techno, house and more.
STONE’s soundtrack features a diverse list of genres such as hip-hop, stoner metal and techno that accentuates the moods layered throughout the game’s story.
With Convict Games having contribution history with the likes of Quantum Break, Control, the World War Z film and more, and a lead writer and director in Gregory Louden who is utterly committed to seeing STONE be a success, there is a lot to like about this upcoming release. Even more so when you consider that it’ll come rocking Xbox One X enhancements.
So, what’s next? Well, sit back and hold on tight until the firmly confirmed release date of STONE is made public. For now though, if you fancy taking in the official soundtrack, you’ll find it right below! You’d be mad to miss the trailer too.
If you can’t wait until Xbox One release day, then you can currently pick up STONE on Steam or iOS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UHDskKx23Q
