DREAM TICKET
Edge UK|October 2023
As Media Molecule prepares to move on, we get the inside track on Tren, its spectacular swan song for Dreams
CHRIS SCHILLING
DREAM TICKET

For the better part of two decades, Media Molecule has been in the business of breaking down creative boundaries: not just by placing game development tools in the hands of its audience, but by finding ways to actively encourage players to become makers. As such, it’s hard not to view the opening of Tren – the studio’s last major release for Dreams, as it turns its attentions to a new project – in metaphorical terms.

As a diminutive wooden train finally manages to burst free of its box, breaking open the cardboard flap holding it back, it’s only natural to think of Toy Story, and the familiar notion of an old plaything coming to life when no one is around. But as polystyrene curls are sent scattering, we see instead a dormant creative spark being unleashed, the barrier of self-doubt forced aside. And the winding track before this tiny locomotive, stretching out into the distance? Well, that’s the long, serpentine route this nascent idea must take to reach its ultimate destination.

Perhaps that’s reaching a little. But the more we see and play of Tren, the more it feels like a game that simultaneously reflects the studio’s ‘play, create, share’ ethos; the remarkable piece of software that hosts it; and, just as significantly, the artistic linchpin behind it. For John Beech, recently appointed the studio’s creative director, this marks – for now – the culmination of a development journey that began in unusual fashion. Here at Media Molecule, however, his new role feels the most natural outcome of all.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 2023 من Edge UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 2023 من Edge UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من EDGE UK مشاهدة الكل
BONAPARTE: A MECHANIZED REVOLUTION
Edge UK

BONAPARTE: A MECHANIZED REVOLUTION

No sooner have we stepped into the boots of royal guard Bonaparte than we’re faced with a life-altering decision.

time-read
2 mins  |
January 2025
TOWERS OF AGHASBA
Edge UK

TOWERS OF AGHASBA

Watch Towers Of Aghasba in action and it feels vast. Given your activities range from deepwater dives to climbing up cliffs or lumbering beasts, and from nurturing plants or building settlements to pinging arrows at the undead, it’s hard to get a bead on the game’s limits.

time-read
2 mins  |
January 2025
THE STONE OF MADNESS
Edge UK

THE STONE OF MADNESS

The makers of Blasphemous return to religion and insanity

time-read
3 mins  |
January 2025
Vampire Survivors
Edge UK

Vampire Survivors

As Vampire Survivors expanded through early access and then its two first DLCs, it gained arenas, characters and weapons, but the formula remained unchanged.

time-read
2 mins  |
January 2025
Devil May Cry
Edge UK

Devil May Cry

The Resident Evil 4 that never was, and the Soulslike precursor we never saw coming

time-read
6 mins  |
January 2025
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Edge UK

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

With Dragon Age: The Veilguard, BioWare has made a deeply self-conscious game, visibly inspired by some of the best-loved ideas from Dragon Age and Mass Effect.

time-read
6 mins  |
January 2025
SKATE STORY
Edge UK

SKATE STORY

Hades is a halfpipe

time-read
5 mins  |
January 2025
SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION VII
Edge UK

SID MEIER'S CIVILIZATION VII

Firaxis rethinks who makes history, and how it unfolds

time-read
5 mins  |
January 2025
FINAL FANTASY VII: REBIRTH
Edge UK

FINAL FANTASY VII: REBIRTH

Remaking an iconic game was daunting enough then the developers faced the difficult second entry

time-read
9 mins  |
January 2025
THUNDER LOTUS
Edge UK

THUNDER LOTUS

How Spirit farer's developer tripled in size without tearing itself apart

time-read
7 mins  |
January 2025