Copper Dreams: Cyperpunk Guns and Chainsaw Arms

Hannah and Joe Williams of Whalenought Studios have returned to Kickstarter once again following the success of their previous campaign, Serpents of the Staglands. This time around, they’re asking for help to bring yet another CRPG to life, entitled Copper Dreams. Whereas Serpents of the Staglands took place in a fantastical world with sorcery and swordplay, Copper dreams propels you into a futuristic realm filled with cyber-espionage, guns and chainsaw arms.

Set in a dystopian island colony called Catalina, you play as a citizen sent by the American government to an off-world colony in an effort to curb rapid urban overpopulation. What follows next is a journey filled with turn-based combat and vertical movement in the form of grappling, vaulting and the like.

The game reminds me of the crowdfunded Fear Effect reboot, especially with the top-down camera angle, puzzles, stealth and gunplay. There looks to be a major emphasis on stealth, which always provides for a unique experience when meshed with a top-down camera angle. The turn-based combat is in sharp contrast to the real-time combat of Serpents of the Staglands.There won’t be HP bars or any of those conventional RPG hijinks, instead Copper Dreams will employ a wound-sim mechanic in the vein of modern shooters, where injuries (ranging from “bruises to rupturing a lung”) accumulate until you rest and/or heal.

With Whalenought Studios’ packed credentials, they should have no problem funding Copper Dreams; in fact, the campaign was launched only a few days ago and they’ve already raised close to a quarter of the $40K they’re asking for.

You can track Copper Dreams’ progress in our Campaign Calendar.