STAR SHREDDERS has been influenced by a number of things in its development and with that one area of importance we wanted to explore was the fragility of the future 

One of the key driving points for STAR SHREDDERS’s own setting is a futuristic society that has fallen to a dark entity. As technological advancements and extraterrestrial life is abundant, sometimes the sinister can be hidden ready to attack or moving in silence.

Dystopian worlds represents societies in the future where political unrest, life suffering on huge scales, issues caused by technology or even invasions are actualities. These worlds build strong senses of moral and truth to overcome the obstacles and save existence from losing its very foundations.

When developing our own narrative and story structure, we looked at many games that utilised the dystopian setting and themes in their worlds and how characters were intertwined into these overarching storylines.

BIOSHOCK

BioShock(2007,Irrational Games) the first-person shooter game developed by 2K Boston (later Irrational Games) was acclaimed as a masterpiece for its strong game-play mechanics but more so its setting which was built on the foundation of a dystopian world.  The games concept incorporated ideas by 20th century dystopian and utopian thinkers such as Ayn Rand, George Orwell, and Aldous Huxley, as well as historical figures such as John D. Rockefeller and Walt Disney.

Even though BioShock is set in 1960 in the underwater city of Rapture, its focus is on technical advancements that push society into the future with terrible consequences.

Rapture was built in the 1940s by Andrew Ryan, an idealistic business magnate, who wanted to create a utopia for society’s best scientists, artists and elite to live outside of government and the bounds of law to fully embrace experimentation and supposed freedom.

One of these scientific breakthroughs was the discovery of the genetic matter “ADAM”. It allowed the inhabitants to splice their own DNA with it to grant god-like abilities like telekinesis and pyrokinesis. You would think now with having only the elite with powers in a beautifully craft underwater world would work but sadly this was not the case. 

Despite the utopian dreams of the elite, class distinctions grew between the inhabitants which developed greed, power struggles and crime. This crime was led by the crafty gangster and businessman Frank Fontaine who uses his influence over the lower class to plan a revolution whilst profiting from the sick implantation and abduction of the “Little Sisters”. The whole purpose of this was to gain control and monopolise on what was intended to be an utopia. 

The city becomes a baron reminder of what was once a beautiful utopia, now a crumbling dystopia.

The ideology and riveting storyline of BioShock captures the notion of a dystopian world so perfectly as it shows that even with technological advancement or freedom from government rule, cracks can still show. Corruption of power, class divide and emotive reasonings can still be a catalyst for disaster even for the future and BioShock shows that tremendously. 

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions led a charge of ideologies of world powers and how sinister the balance can change when left unnoticed. It wasn’t until Metal Gear Solid 4 though where we glimpsed  a corrupt new future which our protagonist Solid Snake was tackling. 

Guns of the Patriots(Konami,2008) is set in 2014, nine years after the events of the original Metal Gear Solid and five years after Sons of Liberty.  

The world is in disarray as civil wars ensue by Private Militia, which now outnumber government forces. This fighting dictates the economy and how privatisation under malicious rule can change the trajectory of a society. In this future, nanomachines are the new gold and it enhances not only cities but also the battlefield.

The use of technologies like METAL GEAR RAY and REX or powerful AIs like the Trojan were pivotal in shaping the world’s existence simply by the hands of a few elite. Solid Snake, whilst aged, continues to battle against these forces even though the odds are greatly stacked against him. 

This idea around a system controlling all creates a sense of “dehumanization” in the future where individuals are no longer important entities but just part of the system. 

The Metal Gear series showed a dystopian future in which technological advancements and privatisation has yet again been met with greed and corruption much like other futuristic counterparts. 

STAR SHREDDERS

STAR SHREDDERS uses this same world building and thinking in our dystopian world in which a power struggle is happening in the galaxy.

The USSC who reside in the planet Roytera are providing aid and defense to citizens whilst the Iron Faction, a tyrannous fleet from Dispora are destroying all in their wake.  

Life between the planets are bound by a mysterious force and tales of the past linger to truths in the present.

This overarching storyline is mirrored with governments forces strategizing attacks on civilian planets, causing havoc and disarray. These events are happening on Roytera, our first world we visit in STAR SHREDDERS. 

Co-ordinated by Minao and the Tactical Mirror , the Valkyrie Force are sent on an emergency mission to protect the city of Emor from an imminent attack for General Greet and his armada of War Wolves. 

Clash a Royterian who heads up the Valkyrie force, our elite team of pilots are sent to protect the cities. Whilst driving just to prevent the imminent attack, the more she battles, the more she uncovers the works at play and what ultimately controls her actions. 

Again our thinking is employed with the ideals of a protagonist accompanied with a strong cast that help unwind the sinister events at play.