Technoir just sounds cool. That genre alone might be reason enough to fund Allexiur, a fetus from noob developer, Black Ark Games. It’s currently on Kickstarter at $244 of $7,551 with 24 days to go.
Allexiur is described as a “tehcnoir (sic) mystery adventure game”. What exactly makes technoir technoir? I know anything noir-ish with sci-fi elements, or vice versa, is called technoir, but I want a harder definition. The word itself makes me think Humphrey Bogart with an iPad.
According to the Allexiur Kickstarter video, the game has all the elements of film noir – the P.I., the gal, the office, even file cabinets. What makes it “tech”, I guess, is that it’s set on a colony on the moon. Yes, literally, the moon. Sci-fi Noir sounds more accurate than Technoir. BladeRunner is Sci-Fi, really, but it’s noir-ish at the same time, so Sci-fi Noir. I wouldn’t call it Technoir just because it has science fiction in it. Technoir needs to be more technology-driven. Like hardcore sci-fi versus casual sci-fi. Can’t call something Technoir just because it’s set in the future.
Back to Allexiur: to fund or not to fund?
One turnoff right off the bat are all the spelling errors. If I’m investing my hard-earned cash, I want assurance these guys are professional enough to do a basic spell-check. And have a little bit more attention to detail.
Another turnoff are some of the 2-D graphics. It not only looks like a flash game, but it lacks any original art direction. You want noir? Make it dark. Mysterious. Even black and white is better. Think Sin City with a sci-fi twist. And really, what’s with the file cabinets? It’s a futuristic, digital, limited-space environment. Get rid of the file cabinets!
File cabinets on the moon!
The bright spot is the concept art. It’s interesting. Not the most original yet but there’s promise, especially the metropolis encased in an atmosphere dome with the crescent Earth in the distance. Some possibilities there.
I won’t be backing this one, but I do want to see the game funded, just to see what exactly is technoir.