From Numinous games, award-winning creators of That Dragon, Cancer, comes the fascinating VR title AREA MAN LIVES. Combining comic book style visuals with a quirky story that expects you to actually talk back, you star in this wacky mystery. An official description reads; ‘Spin a record, interact with objects in the radio station’s DJ booth, even record a commercial… but when things get super weird, don’t forget to save the Area Man!’
To take the article in a more personal direction, I feel quite the connection to this game, not only because the aesthetic and story is right up my alley, but because I’ve played it before…
No, I haven’t had some mandela effect or an early copy, I’ve not seen anyone talk about it but AREA MAN LIVES appears to be a revamp and rewrite of a game exclusive to the Google Daydream called Untethered. Now, it’s not surprising that no one is talking about it, not only was the game not even that popular on the Daydream, but there must have been about three people in the world who owned a Daydream headset. But I was one of them, and this was one of my favourite games on the system, it blew me away with it’s innovative voice control system and unique artstyle. I even took part in the Twitter ARG revolving around an evil corporation and seemingly supernatural goings on surrounding raccoons.
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The game appears to have dropped some aspects now, where the two episodes that ended up being released for that game all took place in a different setting, this appears to take place entirely in the radio station from episode one, which means that the always fantastic voice work of some of the old voice cast, but they have been replaced with a great cast of voice actors including Max Greenfield and Joel McHale.
The developers refer to AREA MAN LIVES as an ‘inside out radio drama because the player stays in the radio station and hears the story play out in the world outside the station, allowing them to imagine all the madcap details.’ Narrative-based puzzles require players to use the items in the radio station to affect the story and hopefully save the day. If you fail, though, the titular area man can die in almost 100 different ways, so be careful!
Numinous says that they aspire to bring the intimacy they’re known for from previous games to this new title, and to connect the story to the themes of the game in unexpected ways.
I could not be more excited for this upcoming title, and will be avidly awaiting the very close release date of may 12th. The game is an official selection for the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, and will be available for purchase beginning Thursday, May 12th for $19.99 USD. The game will be available in the Meta Quest Store, the Meta Rift store, Steam, and on HTC Viveport.
