2019-07-01_PC_Gamer

A

n octopushidingfroma

sharkwithina protective

suitofshellsthenjetting

awaywasa standout

momentinBluePlanetII,theBBC’s

spectacularunderwaterdocumentary

series.Thatoctopus’inclusioninthe

demoofBeyondBlue, E-LineMedia’s

underwateradventure,nodstothe

game’srelationshipwiththeshow,

usingitsinsightandspectacletobuild

BeyondBlue’s world.

Thelatestdemois setintheatollbiome.

It’sfarmorecolourfulthanthemurky

twilightzoneofthepreviousbuild,and a

rainbowofcoralsandfishbaskinthe

sunlightshallowerwateroffers.Thefull

gamewillalsofeaturea thirdbiome– the

deepseaabysswheretheonlysourceof

lightis bioluminescence.

ResearcherMiraiandherteamhave

beencalledtotheSouthChinaSeato

investigateunusualbiologicalactivity

andthisnewdemointrotellsmeI’m

trailinga superpodofspermwhales,

hopingtodiscovermoreabouttheir

socialandemotionallives.

Mytaskhereis fairlystraightforward

• headtoa seriesofbuoysandusethem

to lock onto nearby sounds. Once I know

the location of the sound I go and see

what’s making it. As I swim Mirai chats

with her remote team so you get a growing

sense of those relationships even though

you won’t see the people.

VP of marketing, Steve Zimmerman,

tells me that the full game will also have a

submarine. The sub is where you make

the bigger narrative decisions so as not to

distract you while swimming. When you’re

swimming about, the priority is immersion

in the moment-to-moment thrills.

WHALE OF A TIME

Beyond Blue won’t shy away from issues

like coral bleaching and plastic pollution

but it will be able to use its setting – 20

years in the future – to explore possible

solutions. Zimmerman also mentions

other decisions Mirai will face around who

to share her research with, whether that’s

the whole world, a specific country, or a

commercial enterprise.

I ask Zimmerman for his favourite

ocean fact and he responds with

something science can’t answer yet. “I

want to know why the humpbacks sing,”

he says. “[We] haven’t learned why, and

our game’s probably not going to answer

that question. But we’re hoping to inspire

another generation of people who might

start looking into things like that.”

Philippa Warr

THE SUB IS WHERE

YOU MAKE THE

BIGGER NARRATIVE

DECISIONS

Beneath the waves with the

ocean game’s new biome

BEYOND

BLUE

BeyondBlue

PREVIEW

RELEASE

2019

DEVELOPER

E-Line Media

PUBLISHER

E-Line Media

LINK

http://www.beyondbluegame.com

NEED TO KNOW

PLAYED

IT