Firearms and vehicles are scarce, conflicts and hostilities have no end, and the terrible freezing cold annihilates friends and foes in its path. In early 1942, huge meteors crashed into Earth, the resulting climate change kickstarting a new ice age. Fast-forward to 1971 and extreme temperatures and violent storms are now part of daily life.

Those who have survived the dramatic changes wrought by the strikes have done so thanks to Fulgor, a unique substance carried to the planet by the same meteors that so dramatically changed its environment.

In Europe, a new society was born from the remains of the German army and its intelligence services. Calling itself Wintersöhne (Sons of the Winter), it has pursued research into refining Fulgor for human consumption and developing it for military purposes.

Out of the ashes of the devastation to the north is born an ultra-religious cult, one that worships Fulgor as a divine gift. Forsaking technology, the Kaphirite cult believe the alien artifacts are the ultimate judge as to who deserves to live. Initiation into its ranks requires Fulgor to be absorbed into the system intravenously… a process that few survive. Those who do are believed to be divinely chosen.

Eight characters have to join forces for a common cause: find an important scientist kidnapped by a massive stratocracy. Along their way they will have to avoid raider attacks, investigate military headquarters, and infiltrate into the territory of a dangerous anti-technological religious sect.

The campaign sets in a frozen world, in which eight people – each one with its own problems and interests – join in a sort of temporary alliance, to find one particular person: Dr Margaret Blythe. On the trail of her whereabouts, they will travel and fight shoulder to shoulder, and they inevitably get to know the others. Depending on some strategic and personal decisions, you will guide this characters right to one of three possible endings.

Xabi San Martín, keyboardist and composer of the Spanish band “La Oreja de Van Gogh” (Grammy winners, and with more than 8 million albums sold), has been in charge of composing the full soundtrack of the turn-based strategy video game 1971 Project Helios.

“Unlike other games of this genre, the plot is not an excuse to get to the action but a fundamental part of the experience. The soundtrack, therefore, emotionally accompanies the player at each stage of the adventure. As for the graphic aspects, the game has a very strong personality, so tackling the music was a challenge. I had to be ambitious and not settle for anything conventional. I think the most difficult part was to find a sound palette that evoked the universe of the game: raw, bleak, yet still very emotional.

All levels and their locations are so different that even the recording techniques varied greatly from one to another. For example, the spatial treatment of music during a level settled in a tunnel gallery is radically different from one that, for example, takes place in catacombs.”

1971 Project Helios has three different factions that the player must face: the Scavengers, small independent villages with limited resources; the Wintersöhne, a great militarized society formed by the remnants of armies that once faced each other; and the Kaphirites, members of a religious cult formed after the Cataclysm, which rejects technology. When entering a combat, the music takes on a much more frantic appearance. Always maintaining the tension of the fight, the themes are associated with the enemies that the player must defeat.

In this regard, Xabi comments “Each faction is a separate universe, and music should also reflect it during the combats. For the Wintersöhne, it was clear that it must sound like what Wagner would have composed if he had synthesizers. For the Kaphirites, I wanted to return to the medieval modal music. And for the Scavengers, I looked for something raw and metallic. I ended up recording knocks with kitchen pots!”

The only moments of calm for the eight characters are when, between missions, they can camp and rest. It’s in those moments when the music talks about them, not as combat units with a mission to accomplish, but as survivors of struggles, losses, suffering and fatigue every day.

“Acoustic guitars sometimes, abstract textures, old synthesizers... Antagonistic arrangements for the same central theme that appears in many ways, adapting to the mood of the protagonists”.

This way, Xabi’s impeccable work makes 1971 Project Helios soundtrack a part of vital importance when it comes to immersing ourselves in this universe, and makes us, as players, partakers of the story the game wants to tell.

Balance your group’s individual skills to strategize a response in turn-based fights and survive another day on the tundra. Do so and you’ll gradually unlock new skills and upgrade equipment, letting you customise each character’s, and ultimately the group’s, build to develop new ways to counter any danger you may face.

As much as your choices are key to your success in every conflict, so too are the personal decisions made during your journey essential to deciding how it ends. With the game’s story offering multiple endings, the fate of the world lies in your hands.

Key Features:

• Tactical Combat. Fight against three different factions, each one with its unique units, strategy and advantages. Soldiers, snipers, slippery bandits, knights immune to cold… Study your enemies, plan out every move and adapt to all confrontations!
• Exploration. Travel through various locations, from military enclaves to medieval dungeons. There you can search for fulgor, new equipment for your characters, and pieces of information of the world you are in and the factions you face.
• Skill Trees. As you find equipment compatible with each character, you can unlock and upgrade new skills, and combine them to make the perfect builds for your strategy.
• Resource Management. Use all the fulgor you can find to defreeze your HP, decrease the cooldowns, and reanimate your fallen units.

1971 Project Helios is in development for Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and PC, scheduled for Q2 2020.