Todd D'Arcy of Melbourne indie game development studio Stutter Fox Studios has released an exclusive trailer via IGN about their upcoming game Falling Frontier.

He begins by announcing the delay of early access until Q2 of 2022 for the standard reason. He'd like it to be in better shape. Then goes on to show off some of what's already there.

The campaign tells the story of a war between Titan and Mars and humanity's expansion beyond the solar system.

We see a ship being reoutfitted at a station with the hardware necessary for a specific mission.

All relatively standard fair.

Not so standard is the mission or following gameplay.

It's a rescue mission.

That's a bit special.

Space games are plentiful and incorporate a lot of the elements we see in film and television - exploration, research, combat, colonisation, diplomacy and espionage.

But not really rescue or if they do, the gameplay is generally unsophisticated and unremarkable.

This trailer demonstrates a simple but fascinating rescue mission system in which the ship must locate and retrieve stranded crewmembers.

Seemingly timeliness counts.

Over time finding these lifeboats can become incredibly challenging in the black of space.

A realistic sense of urgency. Nice.

But wait, there's more.

Each crew member has their own profession and skills and knowledge.

That knowledge can be squeezed out them through interrogation and higher ranked crew are more likely to possess valuable intelligence.

Though as with real interrogation the information may not be accurate.

We would rescue, not interrogate, but still have to appreciate this indie developer cleverly evolving a largely neglected dimension of space gaming.

And at least as described here we see potential for that rescue element to be satisfying and enjoyable.

Definitely one to keep an eye on.

[ Main Image: Falling Frontier gameplay screenshot. Credit: Stutter Fox Studios via YouTube. ]

References

IGN (November 19, 2021). Falling Frontier - Exclusive Search and Rescue Gameplay Overview Trailer. YouTube.

Stutter Fox Studios. Falling Frontier. Steam. (viewed November 27, 2021)