Code 7 says “Hello World!”
Find your inner hacker and save humanity!
Founded by Zein Okko and Kevin Glaap, Goodwolf Studio is a small, independent game development group based in Bonn, Germany. Their project, Code 7, is an ambitious undertaking that has been evolving over the last couple of years. In September of 2016, a Kickstarter campaign was launched. With the help of 653 backers, Goodwolf exceeded its goal of €15,000. This allowed them to expand the scope of Code 7 and bring additional resources into the project.
With a background in game design, animation and creative writing, Zein’s role in the Code 7 project is multi-faceted. He designed the visuals, wrote the narrative, and composed the music. As the “computer science” guy for the team, Kevin’s responsibilities included game design and programming. Proving that persistence and hard work do pay off, Code 7 will be available on Steam beginning August 11th.
As part of the Kickstarter campaign, Goodwolf Studio posted a free Code 7 “Episode 0” to give players a feel of what was to come. It has the appearance of a text adventure on steroids…story-rich with full voiceovers, branching dialog, music, and gameplay that (at first glance) feels as though you are on a terminal, managing and hacking a real system. In keeping with this theme, the graphics are intentionally low resolution to reflect a system interface, as accessed via terminal.
The premise is that you (Alex the hacker) find yourself alone in a space station with only a computer to keep you company. You discover the presence of a malevolent Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and realize that it has less than good intentions for humanity. Your job is to (surprise!) save the world, using your charm and computer skills. The decisions you make and how you interact with other characters in the game will impact the outcome of your efforts.
In game techno-speak, you will be able to “use the terminal-based LupOS system and hacking techniques such as Man-in-the-Middle-Attack, Brute Force Attack, Network Jamming, and more.” As you work within the system, you will also be able to install utility programs, gather information about other users, and navigate the network. Since a computer science background is not listed as a prerequisite skill for Code 7, my assumption is that we will be trained on how and when to use each of these cyber-weapons. To this end, Goodwolf promises that they have added “advanced feedback” to help the player know what to do and to understand the state of various game elements. For those who do have a technology background, the game should be even more intriguing.
The game will be delivered in installments. Episode 1 is ready to play and will be released August 11th on Windows, Mac and Linux. Episodes 2 through 4 are still in development. Originally, five shorter episodes were planned. Goodwolf recently announced that the Code 7 story is better served by 4 longer episodes. In this case “less is more” and each episode is expected to include about 3 hours of gameplay. A “season pass” will be available for those who want to follow the Code 7 story to the very end.
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