Magic Hazard's Journey: Bringing a story-driven shooter to life with Xsolla Accelerator

gamesindustry.biz:

With more games in the market than ever, it’s important to bring new ideas to stand out. That’s something Magic Hazard has at its core for its debut game Memory Lost.

Set in the dystopian cyberpunk-inspired metropolis of Detraxis, it’s a top-down action shooter where you play as an AI, the Neural Network, implanted into the body of an assassin robot who’s fighting for their freedom and destiny. What makes it unique from other games in the genre is that you can change how you play by capturing the memories of your enemies and gaining their abilities. This results in diverse and adaptable gameplay where over time players can master a wide range of mechanics without the need to create and level up a new character repeatedly.

Speaking to studio founder and CEO Sergei Kuznetsov, the idea came one cold February morning as he and a few friends sat around a kitchen table talking about the types of games they enjoyed playing from their childhood, and what they felt was missing.

“After five hours of discussions, we all agreed: since childhood, we've wanted to play as the enemies we fight against. Not just outwardly, but inwardly as well - using their weapons and abilities,” says Kuznetsov.

While some games like Halo allow players to acquire enemy weapons, these inexperienced but passionate young developers wanted to take the idea further by actually shifting and taking over a defeated enemy’s body, claiming their abilities for yourself.

“You can find different types of enemies, providing new possibilities to control them,” he explains. That’s not just limited to weapon types but also different playstyles. “You can decide to capture someone who's got a melee ability, and you can upgrade your skill to improve your melee.”

But Kuznetsov was also interested in not just the mechanical possibilities but what this meant narratively. “If you inhabit an enemy's body, you copy his life. You travel in his skin, encounter his environment, and see significant memories,” he explains. “Will this