After quashing the many rumors that they were working on a sequel to Nuclear Dawn, Interwave Studios have announced their next title which is to be a 2.5D sidescrolling survival game called Dark Matter.

Unfortunately we don’t have many visuals to show you – we love the visual candy – but we do have some details to sink your teeth into and get a little taste. So the good thing is that Interwave seem to have moved away from the grandiose ambition of Nuclear Dawn, which was a multiplayer FPS/RTS hybrid if you didn’t know, to work on something that initially seems more manageable. That being a sidescrolling game of course. The emphasis that they’re keen to share is on hand-painted graphics and survival with a mix of combat and exploration.

Revealed is that this combat element in particular will be fairly interesting as you’ll have to rely on “cunning and tactics”. Makes a change from the usual ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ many games use as an approach. The weapons that you’ll be using will also be customizable, but there are no details on what these may be – we presume guns given the studio’s background.

As to the story and setting, well things are taking a very dark turn. This summation from the developers should see you off good:

“In the deepest reaches of space, an ancient evil slumbers. It coils around the walls of its stronghold, its prison, and dreams the restless visions of endless hunger that drive it to hate all life.

A human expedition stumbles upon the heart of darkness that conceals this nest of destruction. All are annihilated, save one.”

There’s no release date for Dark Matter as of yet but Interwave hope to have completed most of the work by the end of 2012 – so an early 2013 release sounds likely. Look out for more details on the game as they are revealed over on the official website.

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