Okay, I need to calm down. (Breathe, Randy.) Avalanche Studios—makers of the good Just Cause games, not to mention their involvement in Bethesda's upcoming Rage 2—is making my dreams come true. Generation Zero is an open world solo and/or co-op sandbox shooter. But it's stalked by apex mech predators and set in 1980's Sweden, which is the painting playground of living master Simon Stalenhag.
Now, if you've never looked up Stalenhag's artwork before, please do so now. He paints up wonderfully common Swedish countrysides, but looming with dying retrofuturist technology stomping around on mechanized legs or owning the horizon's skyline or toppling over suburban and farmstead homes. I can't paint. But Stalenhag's whole aesthetic is the only thing I've ever wanted to paint.
So, Generation Zero. You're in an enormous, seamless, sandbox Sweden. You're playing solo or with up to three other buddies. You're using guerrilla tactics to break down these wandering, malicious machines. And at the end of the trailer, when you see that huge mech that's already burning and billowing smoke and sparking off electrical discharges? That's not a mistake: the damage you inflict on these things is persistent. Their existence is also persistent on the map; so it's not like you have 45 minutes to take down a boss and then it disappears if you fail to finish it off (*cough* Monster Hunter World.) You fight, they run, you run, you meet up again later, you finish the job. Sounds fun utilizing a hit-and-run approach to these bosses.
Our own John Yan is hurting for a new Left 4 Dead-alike, and this just might do the trick. Well, with what we can determine from one trailer. He also notes the very synthy soundtrack that reminds him of the end credits theme on the first Terminator film. I like everything I'm hearing and seeing so far. This one it taking up permanent residence on my watchlist as of right now.
No launch date for Generation Zero yet. Its Steam page just has a "2019" launch window for now. The official website only shows the Steam logo so far, as far as platforms are concerned. We'll have to wait and see if they can (or want to) fit this one onto PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.
