It’s been 15 years since Fear Effect and Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix first appeared on the original PlayStation but fans could finally see a new entry in the franchise in the form of Fear Effect Sedna, assuming the upcoming Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign is successful.
This endeavour is thanks to the Square Enix Collective opening up three of their dormant Eidos IPs (Fear Effect, Gex the Gecko, Anachronox) to game ideas from indie developers back in 2015 – as outlined in my Square Enix Collective report only two months ago. Back then I bemoaned the apparent lack of any updates on this area – in particular my hopes for a new Fear Effect title – but although Phil Elliot (Project Lead, Square Enix Collective) wasn’t able to share any news with me at that time he did cryptically reveal “something could still happen”. Sometimes prayers do get answered!
Due to launch on Kickstarter on Tuesday April 12th, indie developer Sushee will be seeking €100,000 ($113,750) in order to develop Fear Effect Sedna for PC – with possible console releases if additional stretch goals are met. If the name Sushee sounds familiar it’s because their previous game Goetia was also crowdfunded through Kickstarter just over a year ago and is in fact due for an imminent release on Thursday 14th April. Goetia also benefitted from being showcased on the Collective platform before receiving support from Square Enix on Kickstarter and will now be the first game to also be published by the Square Enix Collective.
I’m a big fan of the original Fear Effect games which were broadly similar to the older Resident Evil titles in design, albeit with an emphasis on stealth and a greater degree of movement. Fear Effect Sedna looks to be going for a more strategic approach combined with an isometric viewpoint that’s reminiscent of Invisible, Inc. or the more recent Shadowrun games, although it is at least keeping the cel-shaded graphical style.
While myself and other fans will no doubt be pledging as soon as the Kickstarter for Fear Effect Sedna goes live, Sushee will need to rely on more than just the name to raise €100,000 which is quite an ambitious target now that backers are becoming more selective about pledging to projects (Goetia received a fairly modest haul of $34,000 after all).
