Vaporum: Lockdown made by Fatbot Games will release on Xbox One, Xbox One S and Playstation 5, and PlayStation 4 on December 10, 2021. Visit the game page on eShop: Xbox Store Playstation Store (US) Playstation Store (EU) Playstation Store (JP)
The Game
Vaporum: Lockdown is a grid-based dungeon crawler in an original steampunk setting. It is a prequel to the award-winning steampunk dungeon crawler Vaporum.
The game expands on everything that made the first game good, including more menacing enemy types, broadened skill trees, new gadgets, plenty of new unique items, and original puzzles & mechanics. Controls have been considerably streamlined for a much smoother experience. Vaporum: Lockdown follows the story of Ellie Teller, a teleport operator & scientist, who struggles to survive the aftermath of a terrible event.
Story & Exploration
Follow Ellie Teller, a young scientist, working on teleportation research in a grand secret project -- Arx Vaporum -- hidden in the middle of a vast ocean. Experience the last moments of her normal day job before things go very wrong, forcing her to quickly adapt to omnipresent danger and to confront her own past.
Combat
Combat takes place in real-time. Each enemy has a distinctive set of strengths and weaknesses so you have to employ different tactics to beat each one. Weapon types have each a set of unique bonuses and behaviors which add more depth and thought when choosing what weapons to equip against what enemies.
You will find many types of gadgets. Some deal area damage to multiple enemies, some manipulate the battlefield in various ways, and some can even create your own army of underlings. All these gadgets are powerful, but some enemies are immune to certain types of attacks, so you will have to figure out the best way to deal with every encounter the game throws at you.
Puzzles
Solve intriguing puzzles, riddles, and level-wide objectives where you have to use both your wits and reflexes. Many of these smaller puzzles contribute to solving the main one -- how to escape the tower.
Character Progression
Instead of increasing the abilities of your human character, you will improve the exoskeleton rig you wear. The game combines a "you are what you wear" aspect with long-term development of your exo-rig. The gadget-based system allows you to change your loadout of gadgets at any time, giving you a great deal of flexibility to deal with various situations. On the other hand, as you progress, you get to unlock useful circuits on your exo-rig, gaining significant permanent attribute bonuses and passive skills.
DISCLAIMER
The name of the project, "Lockdown", was set in November 2019, mere weeks before the real-world SARS-CoV-2 virus appeared, so it's a pure coincidence.
About Fatbot Games
Fatbot Games is a small indie studio located in Bratislava, Slovakia, Central Europe, founded in 2015 by two longtime friends and gamedev veterans, Tibor Repta and Matej Zajacik. Before that, Tibor and Matej worked in other bigger, established game companies, but both were disgruntled by the ineffectiveness and creative inflexibility of them, sharing similar opinions and ideas on how to better run a game company.
In the veins of a true indie studio, they started to work full-time on their first project while being roommates. The project, a dungeon crawler RPG named Vaporum, quickly grew to a solid prototype, gathering interest from fellow gamedevs and other people. The project managed to secure funding from an investor (a small tech company in Slovakia) and the company Fatbot Games was founded. As a coincidence, the investors lived just a block away from the apartment where it all started. ;)
Soon after, two other friends and gamedev veterans with the same indie mindset joined the company, Lukas Chrapek and Peter Uliciansky, and full-time work on the game commenced. Apart from these 4 core members, several other external contributors helped shape the game (mostly music, sound, and additional art). Vaporum was released two years later to critical acclaim (90% rating on Steam), praised for its gripping atmosphere, audiovisuals, fun gameplay, and solid bug-free state.
Vaporum received many updates and additions, mostly based on community feedback, including the Accessibility Update which addressed issues and hardships that people with disabilities had while playing the game. The company also decided to release the game on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One through Merge Games. For Switch, a physical boxed version was also created. Alongside, the team started to work on a prequel to Vaporum, named Vaporum: Lockdown, expanding on everything that made the first game good.
Fatbot Games has since grown to 7 members and effectively uses more external contributors. The team also actively contributes to the events and activities of Slovak Game Developers Association, helping young gamedevs acquire experience and good practices.
As a whole, Fatbot Games has 75+ years of combined experience in the biz (Bohemia Interactive, Cauldron - Activision, Keen Software House, Illusion Softworks, and others), and believes in polished games with engaging storylines and high production value in both visuals and gameplay.
Website: https://fatbot-games.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fatbotgames
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FatbotGames
E-mail: info@fatbot-games.com
Discord: https://discord.gg/XGSBJaQ
Article by: Susan N.
