Project Orion by Raven Sword Industries, the ‘first-person space combat experience featuring epic large-scale battles, an in-depth story, and extensive ship customization’ (their words, not mine), is set to be released in two parts. The first part will be released on the project’s initial launch date of January 8th, 2016, with the second being released later on down the line.
This is a change of plan, of course, as the project was initially one whole game. In a recent update posted to the game’s Kickstarter page, Raven Sword points to time constraints as the main reason, opting for a two-part release in order to maintain quality and prevent a second delay (though to be fair, they’ve really only stopped half of the game from being delayed).
Part One of the game will contain all of the gameplay features inherent to the project, such as the combat systems, character interactions, and ship customization. However, it will only cover the first half of the story. Part two will continue and conclude the game’s narrative when it eventually launches.
It’s an interesting solution, I’ll give them that. I’m not sure how I would feel about this, as a backer. Players will only have access to half of the game at launch, and then another half later on. It’s fine for those that purchase the game after both parts have been released, but for those who want the game now, they’ll essentially be playing two half-games and getting half the experience each time around. It’ll be interesting to see how players react after finishing Part One in January.
For more on Project Orion, check out our previous coverage, the game’s official Kickstarter page, and follow the game on Facebook and Twitter.
