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BLACKROOM Kickstarter Cancelled
9 years ago
General
The Kickstarter for John Romero's modern-day, classic-style FPS, BLACKROOM, was cancelled a mere 4 days after launch, accruing 2,287 backers and $131,052 (of the anticipated $700,000) in its short run.
However, this is not the end of the story. According to this article on Rock, Paper, Shotgun, the Kickstarter was halted so work could begin on a gameplay demo for the game. Once the demo is available (which will apparently take a month or two), the Kickstarter campaign will be relaunched.
It's not made clear if the demo will actually be playable, or if it will simply be a video showcasing gameplay.
It's hard to say if this demo will benefit BLACKROOM or not. On one hand, it's difficult to feel confident in committing money to a project that's little more than concept art and enthusiastic ideas thought up by the creator of the most infamously-terrible FPS game of all time. Seeing the game in action might excite potential backers enough to get them to part with their cash. On the other hand, look at the new Doom: releasing a playable demo stirred up an intolerable frenzy of gamer rage after it failed to meet their expectations, and I wouldn't be shocked if a lotta potential buyers will end up passing on that game because of it. (Which is a shame because the campaign and SnapMap look awesome.)
As promotion for BLACKROOM, Romero recently released a new level for the original Doom to demonstrate that he still had the skills to make old-school FPS maps. In my review for the map, I described it as competent with some cool ideas, but not exceptional and kind of annoying.
~
However, this is not the end of the story. According to this article on Rock, Paper, Shotgun, the Kickstarter was halted so work could begin on a gameplay demo for the game. Once the demo is available (which will apparently take a month or two), the Kickstarter campaign will be relaunched.
It's not made clear if the demo will actually be playable, or if it will simply be a video showcasing gameplay.
It's hard to say if this demo will benefit BLACKROOM or not. On one hand, it's difficult to feel confident in committing money to a project that's little more than concept art and enthusiastic ideas thought up by the creator of the most infamously-terrible FPS game of all time. Seeing the game in action might excite potential backers enough to get them to part with their cash. On the other hand, look at the new Doom: releasing a playable demo stirred up an intolerable frenzy of gamer rage after it failed to meet their expectations, and I wouldn't be shocked if a lotta potential buyers will end up passing on that game because of it. (Which is a shame because the campaign and SnapMap look awesome.)
As promotion for BLACKROOM, Romero recently released a new level for the original Doom to demonstrate that he still had the skills to make old-school FPS maps. In my review for the map, I described it as competent with some cool ideas, but not exceptional and kind of annoying.
~
I still hope his project goes will. It would be nice to see a remake of classic gameplay concept.