Like many space sims, Chorus is a feast for the eyes. Unlike many space sims, its astral vistas have a psychological undertow. Your enemies in the game, members of a religious cult known as the Circle, are partial to a spot of brainwashing. Their space stations are instruments of domination, red-on-black monoliths that impose on the viewer at any distance. As lead artist Kareem Leggett tells us, these structures take loose inspiration from fascist architecture in being designed “to affect the psychology of people who live in the area”. The Circle have more direct methods of mind control: they can paralyse vessels with psychic attacks, bloating their hulls with cuboid matter redolent of the Hiss in Remedy’s Control. Fortunately, your pilot, Nara, is touched by the eldritch herself: she can warp inside afflicted ships and blast away the ectoplasm.
The cult’s bullying aesthetic pervades what we’ve seen of the game’s broader environment design. Tumbling asteroid fields are brutally divided into light and shadow, and listing derelicts seem poised to roll over your craft. The atmosphere of threat coexists uneasily with the more innocent objective of giving you large, arresting objects to orient around as you rinse star systems of optional content. “The landmarks are there to really lead you through the space and tell the story of the world as you go,” Leggett says. “We spent a lot of time making sure that the asteroids and everything else set the paths up, and make it easy to discover things and get a really cool vista as you do.”
This story is from the Christmas 2020 edition of Edge.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Christmas 2020 edition of Edge.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
NO MORE ROOM IN HELL 2
You're not alone in the dark
WINDBLOWN
Life after Dead Cells
COLLECTED WORKS - JOSH SAWYER
Journeying to the Forgotten Realms, Infinity and beyond with the RPG veteran
SCREENBOUND
Going deep in a mind-bending hybrid of perspectives
Trigger Happy
Shoot first, ask questions later
Grand strategist
Paradox's Mattias Lilja addresses the publisher's recent difficulties - and the plan to right the ship
Diablo IV
A progress report on the games we just can't quit
Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection
In Capcom's diabolical tribute, evil goes far deeper than the demons on the screen
SERENITY FORGE
How a near-death experience lit a fire in the Colorado-based developer and publisher
THE MAKING OF...ALIEN: ISOLATION
How a strategy-led studio built a survival horror masterpiece in Ridley Scott's image