With indie developer Iridium on board with ID@Xbox, the studio's voice-controlled real-time strategy game, There Came an Echo, will be coming to Xbox One. As OXM reports, the crowd-funded game is still headed to PC in June, but a console version will follow "shortly" after.
Aside from starring Star Trek's Wesley Crusher (aka Wil Wheaton as he's known here on Earth), the big shtick with There Came an Echo is its voice-controlled gameplay. It has been designed from-the-ground-up for use with a vocal recognition system (like the Kinect). In it, you command a small squad soldiers — including Wheaton's character, Corrin — using a list of predefined commands. The game's recognition is admittedly limited to a few hundred entries, such as "open fire" or "[Character] head to [location]." Although, you can define a custom phrase that acts as an alternate so instead of "[Character], hold your position," you can say "yo girl, hold up."
Although There Came an Echo is targeting a June release, Iridium admits "it could very well be delayed for any number of reasons."
"Game development is notoriously difficult to predict, in terms of time of completion. The script is fully written and a basic framework of the game exists, but a current estimate would put the game at only 15-20% complete," the developer said.
"We're relentlessly committed, however, to updating our backers with constant, informative, seriously-Iridium-we-get-it-already updates. We have several backup plans in place with regard to a scaled-down graphical style, and we're leaving a bit of financial "cushion" to account for those inevitable hiccups along the way.
"Any creative project of this scale has significant risks, and we understand that. Still, you placed your trust in us, and whatever bumps we encounter, rest assured that Iridium Studios is going to fulfill its promises and put out one hell of a game," Iridium says.
You can check out There Came an Echo's Kickstarter pitch video below, though the game has already surpassed its goal of $90,000.
