I never thought I’d live to see this day… With Routine, a horror game that was thought to be dead returns ten years after its announcement. Finally!
Do you still know Routine? Probably not – and I can’t even blame you. The retrofuturistic sci-fi horror was announced ten years ago, but never came out. Now, however, Lunar Software is back with a re-reveal and I couldn’t be happier about it. It has to do with Alien, Blade Runner and Star Wars.
But so that you can get an idea of Routine for yourself, it’s best if you just take a look at the new trailer for the old game. My tip: darken the room and put a good headset on your head – you won’t regret it!
What kind of game becomes routine?
For the premise of Routine, Lunar Software make use of old familiar sci-fi horror clichés. Somewhere in a base on the moon, something really, really bad has happened. That’s why we set off in the suit of a lonely astronaut to see what’s going on. This is a stupid idea, of course, there are some pretty nasty things waiting for me on the moon.
This looks incredibly good: The story of Routine doesn’t have to win any trophies as long as the atmosphere is right. And the atmosphere is so right in this title. This is due to the fantastic setting alone, for which I have a big weakness. Routine is set in a future as one would have imagined it in the 1980s. Retro-futurism is the name of the fun that my favourite films like Star Wars, Blade Runner or Alien(s) are also brimming with.
The atmosphere of Routine was already old trailers and screenshots to cut thick. And also in terms of gameplay, Lunar Software could completely inspire me, as they originally wanted to offer a counter-design to Dead Space 3 with Routine. In other words: less action and carnage, more space horror and sheer fear. I’m probably not the only one who thinks of Alien: Isolation, where this principle has already worked out wonderfully.
Not only Moon-Moon: And in case you’re thinking now that screenshots and trailers look a bit monotonous and uniform: Lunar Software are definitely planning a quite varied moon base, which offers, for example, abandoned shopping malls or run-down residential quarters.
There should be more than enough opportunities for a merry game of hide-and-seek there, because combat was not planned, at least in the original version of Routine. If the unfriendly robotic staff sets its sights on us, it’s time to take to our heels. Whether these plans – just like the permadeath principle – have changed remains to be seen.
What should benefit the already dense atmosphere is the absolutely minimalist or almost non-existent HUD. With this, Lunar Software wants to draw us even more into the action, which already looks damn promising in the older gameplay trailers for Routine:
Why is this taking so long?
Ten years since the official announcement: Routine has already had a long and eventful development history. Announced at gamescom 2012, the horror game was actually supposed to be released in 2013. However, Lunar Software only reported back in 2014 with the less than pleasant news that they had cancelled the virtual reality support for Routine. The reason: the developers themselves felt sick playing the game all the time.
Then Routine was supposed to be released in 2016, but the release was delayed again until 2017. After Routine and Lunar Software disappeared into oblivion again, no one really expected a release then.
Where was the problem? Now – about ten years later – the responsible developers finally reveal why exactly the project has not been crowned with success so far. In an official blog post, Lunar Software reveals that towards the originally planned end of development, more and more problems arose that had a negative effect on the overall experience. In the end, Lunar Software was not satisfied with its own product, which led to the postponement of the release.
The increasingly lengthy development process in turn resulted in financial difficulties, which also had a personal impact on the team. In order to keep Lunar Software and Routine afloat, the development of the game became a part-time project, while other jobs and professions were to support the financing.
In the meantime, Lunar has found a publisher in Raw Fury, with whom work on Routine can continue as originally planned, while production starts all over again.
When is release now?
Don’t get too excited too soon: Well, that’s a damn good question. Because the developers at Lunar Software are still not revealing that. But for good reason: after the development problems over the last ten years, Lunar doesn’t want to make any promises that ultimately can’t be kept. In order not to put off the fans again, a release date or period will only be shared as soon as Lunar is confident enough to be able to keep it.
Now we can only hope that it won’t be another ten years before the next sign of life from Routine. At least in the coming months, fans of cultivated sci fi horror should not lack for new fodder anyway: Besides the Dead Space remake, The Callisto Protocol is in the starting blocks, while Aliens: Dark Decent, a dewy-eyed real-time strategy game, was also announced at the Summer Game Fest. Sleeping is overrated anyway!
What do you think of the new scenes from Routine? Were you still expecting a return of the sci-fi horror announced ten years ago? Let us know in the comments!
