NeuroHead

 

 

NeuroHead is a 2D Pixel-Art Side-Scrolling Action Game (say that three times fast in a row), set in a not all too far dystopian future, where you will infiltrate heavily guarded corporations, trying to end the manipulative games of a secretive order of wealthy and powerful tycoons, for which the rest of society bears the brunt. There is an emphasis on parkour, hacking and stealth, but the game will include combat as well. It will be up to you, on how to approach the varied securities and dangers, posed in each level.

In NeuroHead, you will play as Willow, a young hacker and parkour runner,  who works under the guise of a shadowy counter organization. Willow has her own reasons for entering the fray, but her and your choices will ripple across the grid of entire nations, altering the way we know life, forever.

Development is currently in its early stages.

 

We are a team of two out of College Developers, based in Switzerland. NeuroHead is something we are currently working on in our spare time, since as of now, it is not sustainable (Sadface). But we are fueled by our passion to make a dark and visceral 2D game. We want NeuroHead to be that game, which provides as much player freedom as possible within the confines of our scope, while also being an immersive ride.

NeuroHead's Level Design is inspired by the holistic Design of the DISHONORED and HITMAN franchises, where the player starts off in one section of the level with objectives they need to locate, reach and complete, but without easily giving away the where and how.

Hacking and Stealth are two vital parts to the gameplay, which we have not touched upon yet. We want everything, which seems like it could be hacked, able to be hacked! There are many paths within the level you can take, but also those you can create. We want the combat to be harsh and deadly, if the player chooses not to plan ahead, 2+ enemies should be able to murder you with relative ease.  In order to overcome the challenges, we want you to connect the dots how you see fit, in ways we could never even imagine!

Currently, we are focusing a lot of our work on Willow, the main character. We want the movement and feedback to feel fluid and responsive, which will be an ongoing endeavor. Next up, we will be tinkering around with level design sections and basic AI and environment interactions, such as security cameras and turrets.

 

With the Alpha 0.1, we are fully honing in on Willow, the main protagonist and player character. We have put our time into movement, camera navigation, and visual appearances, with base feedback in place. Many of the features here are still rough, but should help get a sense of what we are going for!

As of right now we have a sand box to test Willow's base movement. We did implement a small mini game (accessible through the pause menu) with an obtainable objective, for the player to be able to have something to work towards to, and encourage learning the movement. The level design and art is mostly temporarily, but does highlight certain approaches, that we want to pursue down the line. The current build is still a bit wonky and has some weird behaviors, which will need ongoing fixing. As of right now, NeuroHead is only playable with Mouse and Keyboard, with potential controller support down the line.

Please let us know, based on testing the features in the NeuroHead Alpha, how they make you feel, as we look to keep improving and developing the experience.

 

  See you in the Flow Zone kid... err madam/sir, Osmorpheus & JonyT