Stalker Apocalypse. Worth The Risk?
by Ahmad Khan
[dropcap]B[/dropcap]ackers and S.T.A.L.K.E.R fans beware! One of the most infamous developers to ever launch a Kickstarter campaign are back to crowdfunding, and they are off to their old tricks again. Yes, West Games of Areal infamy is back!West Games are back with Areal, except now they are doing away with being coy in favor of being a bit more upfront. Their new project is called STALKER Apocalypse, subtle enough for you?
Areal, as many regulars will remember, was suspended by Kickstarter this past summer amidst a flurry of accusations from media and backers alike, alleging fake pledges, breaching backer privacy, faking letters from world leaders, plagiarizing game assess, and a number of other misrepresentations. Now we have STALKER Apocalypse. Let’s start off by reading the description they give for this new ‘project’ and the reasons behind the re-launch:
“STALKER Apocalypse is a new story driven first person shooter that’s being made by our studio, West Games. Our team is made up of ex-S.T.A.L.K.E.R. developers and other talented team members. We were formerly developing a game called Areal, but after raising funds on our website and listening to our fans, we decided to re-focus our vision, and develop what is now STALKER Apocalypse (trademarked). STALKER Apocalypse features a unique story and plenty of familiar elements that will undoubtedly please our fans. There will be single player, multi player and split screen game modes. Stalker Apocalypse is being developed on Unreal Engine 4, and will be released on PC (Windows, Mac) and console (Xbox One, PS4) platforms.”
West Games’ STALKER Apocalypse campaign is running on a new crowdfunding platform called World Wide Funder, and asking for a whopping $600,000 to boot. The campaign runs until March of 2015, so time is on their side, even if many other things aren’t.
Backers and STALKER fans attempting to login to the comment section of the STALKER Apocalypse campaign in order to observe how things develop, won’t see much. The project administrator, whoever that is, has been moderating all comments; so the place is a ghost town. Any change with this situation as well as emerging details will be updated promptly on Cliqist.
A word of warning to the curious; money is taken immediately on ‘World Wide Funder’. You cannot cancel your pledge like Kickstarter. As soon as you pledge, the money is gone. Pledge at your own risk. The lowest amount where you can get a copy of this game is $25 USD, and in my humble opinion is not worth the huge gamble.
Verdict: Probably the last crowdfunding project I would put my money to, avoid like the plague. 100% rejected.
[author image=”http://cliqist.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/ahmad.jpg” ]Ahmad Khan grew up playing video games. A fan of RPGs and Post-Apocalypse games, Khan instantly fell in love with crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and IndieGogo that made games like Wasteland 2 and Project Eternity a reality. He also ended up being sort of a whistle blower for suspicious crowd funding project, believing that the venue of crowdfunding should be reserved for the honest and the passionate, not for the dishonest and dubious. You can stalk Ahmad on both Twitter and Facebook if you feel so inclined.[/author]
haha very true Joe, hell hath no fury like a group of angry S.T.A.L.K.E.R fans 🙂
[…] site World Wide Funder due to number of sketchy projects that are relaunching over there, such as Stalker Apocalypse. I encourage current crowdfunding enthusiasts, as well as indie game fans, to read that article […]
Nice work Ahmad, but with GSC re-opening it’s doors for business this should put a pin pin into there crowdfunding bubble, who needs pretenders when the real deal may be on the horizon. Keep up your good work 🙂
You are welcome d4v33edz, thanks to S.T.A.L.K.E.R fans like you the franchise will keep its reputation intact!