Video game developer DIMANCHE CORP. and publisher Shiro Unlimited are banding together to bring a new video game, Opportunity, to PC audiences in 2022 via Steam. The title is set to be a narrative exploration game dedicated to NASA's Mars rover, Opportunity, which was a robotic explorer active on said planet from 2004 until mid-2018. The game joins the likes of other titles in the growing space-exploration genre.
On July 7, 2003, NASA's famous Mars rover Opportunity was sent on a mission to the desolate planet in order to find water and any signs of life. It landed on Mars on January 25, 2004. Its expedition was intended to last around 90 days but turned into a shocking 15 year-long mission. Opportunity passed away during a global dust storm that swept across Mars in June of 2018, which covered the solar panels that helped sustain its battery. Its famous last words were, "My battery is low and it's getting dark."
According to a recent press release, players will be able to take control of NASA's Opportunity and embark on its final journey across Mars through a variety of vibrant 3D landscapes sometime in 2022. Shiro Unlimited's website describes the game as Opportunity's journey after it lost contact with Earth in 2018, imagining the robot as marooned but functioning independently. However, in order to survive the planet's harsh conditions, Opportunity must "recover different skill modules on the remains of its predecessors, who are now (almost) all out of service." Additionally, DIMANCHE CORP. reportedly "wanted to capture the wonder of exploring a foreign planet and retell the real missions of this famous rover through its own eyes, figuratively of course."
According to the games website, Opportunity will "include an organic music soundtrack, with heavy acoustic guitar elements, so players can feel truly immersed when experimenting with the scientific research of the rover." Accompanying music is a strong asset to many games, but especially exploration titles - which is the case for the newly released indie exploration title Sable, which strongly relies on its Michelle-Zauner-composed ambient soundtrack to create an immersive gaming experience without the use of combat-incorporated gameplay.
Opportunity may give those who mourned the famous Mars Rover some closure, seeing as it allows people to think beyond what might have happened to Opportunity during the aftermath of the sandstorm. Even beyond the game's insightful depiction of the very-real robotic explorer, it seems like Opportunity could be a strong addition to a genre of video games focused on atmosphere and exploring uncharted territories.
Source: Shiro Unlimited, Shiro Games/YouTube