Metroid meets Twisted Metal, with a dash of Borderlands. Or, Darksiders with cars.
Captain Chaos would like to believe that more games need cars with guns on them. Kings of the Road would be such a game, a Space Western with a flair for both non-linear exploration and intense, physics-driven automotive mayhem.
It's 20 Minutes into the Future, and humanity has spread amongst the stars. The world in focus is Phaedra- a superterrestrial
characterized by salt flats, rolling deserts, rocky badlands, treacherous mountains and towering mesas located on the extreme frontier of The Federation's territory. It is home to the common frontier people- bandits, merchants, lawmen, simple farmers and townsfolk, and so on. Help from the government is nearly nonexistent, so the locals make do with what they can find- that being plenty of gas, bullets and electricity to go around. And some vegetables, too.
Into this world was born our heroine (Who as yet lacks a name), who grew up helping to raise some of said vegetables on her family's farm far out in the wastes. It was no Arcadia... but it was home. But such picturesque lifestyles rarely last forever, and our farm girl lost everything one day when a bandit gang came storming in a frenzy of theft and violence. Our girl barely escaped with her life, by the grace of her family's most prized possession: A Vulcan Motors E11 "Dustmaster" estate wagon, called Halcyon.
The car was her savior, and it became her home and livelihood. She decides to become a marshal, and to use her car and driving skills to bring order to the wastes... and to get revenge on those who destroyed her home and family. This is where the player comes in, who guides our heroine, running missions, combating bandits, salvaging useful gear, exploring the wastes and eventually, pursuing some of the planet's deeper mysteries. Along the way, the player will decide what is more ultimately more important in life: justice, or vengeance?
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. What road will you take?
Kings of the Road would provide examples of:
- Action Girl: Our heroine, and how.
- Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence: Those who know of the velocites believe that this is what happened to them.
- Cool Car: Halcyon. Already a rugged and dependable wasteland station wagon, it has been extensively modified to be a law enforcement vehicle, and gains even better weapons and equipment as the player progresses.
- Cult: The Roadborn are a secretive brotherhood who took to worshiping the velocites and the technology they left behind. Their ultimate goal is to follow their gods to wherever they went.
- Child Soldiers: Our heroine really only knows how to do two things- farm and drive. This being Phaedra, the second involves a fair bit of violence. The essential paradox of her character will be child versus combat driver. She knows it's not a game, but now it's all she knows, and the memory of what she had before drives her forward.
- Cute Bruiser: She's somewhere between this and an accidental Tyke Bomb- she is guileless, immature, and utterly, devastatingly ruthless in combat, slamming those flimsy bandit buggies around like so many plastic toys.
- Grappling-Hook Pistol : Early in the game, the player would acquire a grappling winch that could be used for towing salvage, pulling objects or tossing enemy cars around.
- Had to Be Sharp: Most folks on Phaedra are pretty sharp. Unfortunately for the bandits, our heroine is sharper then most.
- Hub Level: Several cities would serve as these, such as Phaedra Alpha, the original settlement, and New Carlsbad, a bustling center of commerce built atop an iron mine.
- I Call It "Vera": Halcyon, a thing of better times. Notably, the heroine's father gave it that name, not her.
- Metroidvania: A big part of the gameplay would be exploring open wasteland areas and dungeon "highway exits", populated by enemies, bosses and equipment to find.
- Mentor Archetype: Kane, an aging, retired marshal who trained our heroine and serves as her Voice with an Internet Connection and probably the occasional Exposition Fairy. A mission gone wrong cost him a partner and disfigured his face, which is patched up with metal plating. May or may not be subject to the Mentor Occupational Hazard...
- More Criminals Than Targets: Phaedra is a noted destination for outcasts, criminals and other galactic dregs. They prey on each other as much as anyone else. Some gangs are simply overprotective mining groups who don't want to share their profits with anybody else. But there are some rougher sorts: Road pirates who prey on shipping, regular bandits who raid the outlying farmlands, slavers, smugglers and the occasional alien-worshiping Cult.
- Nitro Boost: An item called the "Overbooster" would enable Halcyon to traverse large distances more quickly, make long jumps and accelerated ramming attacks.
- Precursors: Phaedra was once home to the velocites, a technocratic race who held an almost religious reverence for raw speed, and always sought to make bigger, faster, better automobiles. Humanity may or may not know of them at the beginning of the game, but they would play a greater role towards the end of the game, and in possible sequels.
- Vehicular Combat
- Weaponized Car: Most of them, in fact.
- Young Gun: Mason, a newly-minted marshal who serves as an AI buddy or possibly controlled by a second player, were there a cooperative mode.
