Liberated is an interactive dystopian graphic novel that unfolds on the pages of a comic book. The game is made up of 4 chapters - comic book issues showing the story from a perspective of different characters. Liberated transitions seamlessly from choice-based branching story sequences to fully playable action sequences as the action moves from panel to panel.
It is set in a dark world in the near future where technology turned against people. Under the pretext of ensuring security and order, many civil rights of citizens are being violated and modern technology has become a tool of the authorities to manipulate people. People are being surveilled in every possible way - via social media, CCTV, their online payments, device tracking and many others. Liberated is also a story about authoritarianism: about how it appears in a democratic society, gradually develops and ultimately tears it down.
The story presented in Liberated focuses on the fate of a group of people which has decided to oppose the new social order by using various methods of resistance even resorting to violence. On the other side there are representatives of the police and government, for whom the priority is to ensure order by all means possible, sometimes even by violating human freedoms. By exploring the story from different perspectives and both sides of the conflict, player learns the history of a world and begins to understand the motivations of various characters. The player also learns that any action and any decision will bring consequences and story can change.
“Liberated has been a huge labor of love and collaborative effort between Walkabout, Atomic Wolf and L.inc,” said Piotr Gnyp, head of BizDev at Walkabout, the publisher of Liberated. “We hope that with Liberated we will give a second life to comic book and graphic novel genres, using technology to bring them into a new era of interactive storytelling.”
Liberated will be sold via Nintendo eShop (NA, Euro) at the price of USD 19.99 / EUR 19.99 / GBP 17.99, and can now be pre-ordered with a 20% discount.
The gameplay is made up of 2.5D platformer, where the player moves in 2D within 3D environments, story elements presented within heavily stylized and animated comic book frames, QTE sequences and branching dialogue, bringing the story to life like nothing else.
Liberated is coming to Nintendo Switch in June 2, 2020, followed shortly by a PC version, and PS4 and Xbox One editions to follow at a later time.
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