“I Am The End”: A Post-Apocalyptic Action Role Playing Game

I AM THE END

Project Description:

This document describes the details for I AM THE END, a 3-D third-person PC single player or 2-player co-op action adventure game set in a post-apocalyptic future. This six level linear based game would feature various weapons, power-ups and special moves.

I AM THE END would look and play in some ways like Bloodborne (Gameplay) or Nioh (Gameplay) with the addition of punches, kicks and heavy firepower that could all be connected in powerful combos Imagine an old school beat ‘em up like Streets of Rage or Final Fight but in a modern third person format where blades, punches, kicks and guns can be used at will and linked in devastating chain combos.

Characters:

This game would have three playable characters, two simultaneously for co-op.

Mars: The main player character. He possesses the last “pure” human soul on a post-apocalyptic Earth that’s been overridden by powerful demons. Not long before the game takes place Mars loses his young daughter in a violent demon attack. This horrible memory haunts him throughout the game. His mission is simple, exterminate the 6 main demons who rule over creation thereby liberating Earth from it’s demonic infestation and giving the human race a chance at redemption. As one of three remaining agents of a now defunct order of highly trained operatives, Mars must fulfill his birthright as the earthly emissary for the Angel of Death. This agent’s unearthly strength comes directly from his guardian Angel making him a formidable adversary indeed. His fighting style is a balance of martial arts, blades and firepower.

Tetsu: A cybernetic being with a darkened human soul that’s kept alive through nanotechnology. These same modifications also make him extremely powerful and able to competently fight the unholy monstrosities of our dying world. Even though a demon’s hatred swells within him, his loyalty to Mars and their order is absolute. His fighting style is balanced on the side of bladed weapons and martial arts, less firepower.

777: A machine with speed and reflexes far beyond that of an ordinary human, 777 holds his own alongside his colleagues. Its fighting style is balanced on the side of firepower and blades, less martial arts.

Story:

I AM THE END revolves almost exclusively around the past, present and future of Mars while only vaguely touching on the histories of Agents Tetsu and 777, if selected. The story begins as Mars engages the enemy filled with tremendous conviction for his mission. His only fears at this point concern his perceived shortcomings as a father. “Was I a loving father?... Was I there when she needed me?... Did I abandon her?” Throughout the game Mars is confronted by various Demon Masters, all of which challenge him physically, some of which challenge him mentally and spiritually as well. The main Demon (boss), Azazel, is the strongest and most manipulative of them all. Earlier in the game he causes Mars to question the validity of his mission and his dogmatic outlook, but later in the game he intensifies things as he forces Mars to question himself as a person and as a father. Near the end of the game Azazel even goes as far as to present the resurrected spirit of Mars’ daughter to him… “Take the hand of your daughter Mars… let her breath once more among us… join me and live in a world of your creation with your loving daughter beside you.” Mars is destroyed inside, torn between his devotions to mission and fatherhood. Ultimately he realizes the Demon’s offer is unreal, a cruel illusion that would only lead to eternal blackness. With a heavy heart Mars denies Azazel’s offer and chooses to fight for humanity’s redemption over his own needs. The Demon is defeated, Earth’s slate is wiped clean and humanity can begin again.

Theme:

The theme for I AM THE END is about sacrificing your own needs for the greater good. Mars must sacrifice the most important thing to him, life with his daughter, and allow others to have a chance at life.

Game/Story Progression

Intro/Cutscene One: We see Mars walk out of a dusty haze, get down on one knee and prey to the Angel of Death. We can see a decimated city in the distance before him.

Area One: The environment here is a destroyed urban area filled with collapsed building debris, a stormy red sky, human remains and many monstrous enemies. There are some straightforward tutorial elements, familiarizing players with the functions of the game. This area has a sub-boss that must be defeated to progress (This enemy could be reused in later areas as a standard enemy). The main boss of this area isn’t too bright but isn’t a pushover either.

Cutscene Two: We see the Boss of Area Four go before the final Boss of the game, Azazel. Boss Four informs Azazel of the disturbance is Area One and it’s potential complications. Azazel isn’t terribly concerned.

Area Two: We get back into the fighting with slightly less enemies, but they’re a bit stronger. The environment of this level has more of a desert feel. There are still some destroyed skyscrapers around, but they’re more sparsely placed and partially buried by the sand. The concept behind this look is like you’re leaving the city and entering into a stranger, more demonic area. The Boss of this area guards the entrance to a demonic looking destroyed structure. Behind him are his followers, cowering within the ruins of the said structure. He has some manipulative in-game dialog- something along the lines of “if you kill me, you’ll be murdering my followers as well… they’re simply trying to survive… if my heart stops, so do theirs.” This plants the seeds of doubt and fear in Mars’ mind. He defeats the Boss (who’s followers all simultaneously collapse dead) and enters the destroyed structure.

Cutscene Three: Mars is walking cautiously among the ruins of the temple viewing all the meager looking bodies of the Demon’s followers. They don’t look like monsters, or even threatening… just people trying to survive in a dying world. Mars reflects on the Demon’s words…the nature of good and evil, life and death, destruction and rebirth. Doubt is setting in.

Cutscene Four: We see the Boss of Area Four go before Azazel again. He informs Azazel of the disturbance is Area Two and it’s potential complications. Azazel is now interested in the assailant and wonders how a human could make his way through hordes of monsters and murder two Boss Demons.

Area Three: This environment is an “abandoned” oil refinery. Demonic modifications have been made to certain pieces of machinery for??? Purpose. This stage has a Sub-Boss that guard’s access to a huge industrial looking steel tower. After defeating this enemy the player must work his way up the tower via nasty old industrial grate/walkways attached to the side of the steel tower, fighting enemies all the way. Once Mars gets to the top he faces and must defeat the main Boss of Area Three.

Cutscene Five: Immediately after the Boss of Area Three is killed Mars is confronted by a spectral image of Azazel. The demons dialog cuts deeply into Mars’ psyche, attacking him mentally and spiritually. Azazel also alludes to his ability to resurrect the dead and possibly bringing back Mars’ daughter… in exchange for his allegiance of course. The Demon leaves with a smile. The scene ends with Mars alone atop the tower in the grip of anguish, fear and doubt.

Area Four: This area looks as though a major battle took place there. It’s an urban area like Stage One, but much more “leveled” looking… large buildings are more reduced to piles of rubble with exposed, charred superstructures. This area also has more of a dream like feel to it with the heavy fog that blankets everything. As Mars fights through the enemies he’s distracted by a ghostly image of a little girl who looks like she’s spying on him, then runs away. Thinking it might be the spirit of his daughter he’s compelled to follow her. The idea is to entice players to follow her into a shadowy subway entrance. Lighting is not great down there so enemies have more of an opportunity to surprise players. At the end of the stage Mars corners the ghost child. She’s standing in front of a large, totally blacked out tunnel as she slowly backs away from him. Just as he realizes that she is in fact the spirit of his daughter the hideous stage Boss rushes him from out of the darkness. Mars defeats the creature and progresses down the hallway, disappearing into the blackness.

Cutscene Six: This is a low point for Mars, visually symbolized by the blackened tunnel he’s walking through. He considers giving up. He’s not sure if he can withstand the painful conflict within him… “is it really worth forsaking my daughter to give the human race another chance… to destroy itself??” As he reaches the surface and exits the other end of the tunnel he realizes he must continue.

Area Five: This is the same urban environment as Area Four but now Mars is at the foot of an enormous mountain of rubble, twisted steel, human bones and demons. Players must fight their way up hill amongst obstacles such as massive steel girders, giant slabs of concrete and other various building remanence. The closer players get to the top the more bloody and grotesque the environment gets with tattered human remains, guts and bones scattered around. By the time Mars is at the top almost everything is soaked in blood. The sky is very stormy and violent looking. It no longer feels like he’s in our reality… it’s more like Hell. The Area Five Boss now reveals itself. Mars defeats the Demon and notices a large demonic temple in the distance.

Cutscene Seven: Atop the bloody mountain Mars is once more confronted by Azazel, only this time he’s not in spectral form, he’s in the flesh. He presents Mars with a reanimated, resurrected form of his daughter. Mars must choose between his daughter and humanity… self and sacrifice. He denies Azazel. With a slight grin the Demon destroys the girl right in front of Mars. He screams in torment. Now, filled with hatred, Mars storms the blackened temple.

Area Six: This area begins with a large primitive stone bridge that leads to the main entrance of the temple. Mars must defeat a Sub-Boss Demon in order to gain access to the structure. The interior of the complex is a series of large, dramatic rooms with pillars, statues, etc. I’m not 100% sure how I want to handle the design of this area yet. The final fight of the game would definitely be very large balcony type setting overlooking a mountain range with a powerful looking blood red sky.

Cutscene Seven: Azazel and Mars exchange words.

Area Six Continued: Mars defeats Azazel.

Cutscene Eight: Mars is confronted by his guardian angel, The Angel of Death, and shown the true meaning of his mission. Humanity can now begin again.

Game Play:

Goals: (Long term) Rid earth of it’s demonic infestation so it may heal and allow humanity to live peacefully once more. (Short term) Violently destroy enemy characters with elaborate combos, find power-ups, easter eggs, hidden areas, special weapons and advance to the next area.

User Skills:

• Remembering various moves/combos and their strengths and weaknesses.
• Knowing what attacks work for which enemies. Also enemies’ behavioral tendencies.
• Learning the Lock-on system, when to block, strafing and the fighting mechanics.

Game Mechanics: The fighting system would function very similarly to games like Nioh and Bloodborne in players’ ability to perform various attacks, block, lock-on to enemies, strafe and perform special “power-up” moves. One significant difference would be the way different attack types are executed

As shown above buttons 1,2,3 and 4 are the attack buttons, If pressed individually they’ll execute non-weapon moves. 1- a light/fast punch combo, 2- a stiff cross punch that staggers enemies briefly, 3- a shoulder charge knocking enemies down and 4- a series of very powerful gut punches leaving enemies stunned.

Mars has large retractable blades mounted in his gauntlets. If R1 is held down while attack buttons are pressed, bladed attacks can be executed. 1+R1- a light/fast slashing combo, 2+R1- a heavy outward slash that staggers enemies, 3+R1- an upward slash that launches enemies allowing players to “juggle” them (this move can be performed 3 times repeatedly), 4+R1- a series of bloody abdominal stabs leaving enemies stunned.

In addition to the blades, Mars also has various forms of firepower installed in his gauntlets. If R2 is held down while attack buttons are pressed, ranged attacks can be executed. 1+R2- shotgun that either kills or stuns enemies, 2+R2 compact grenade launcher that either kills enemies or knocks them down, 3+R2- long range homing bullets that either kill or stun enemies, 4+R2- compact assault rifle that usually only stuns enemies. All of these weapons can fire different types of their given round, for example, the shot gun can fire a standard buckshot, slugs, flame shot etc. Different types of rounds will have different effects on different enemies.

In addition to a standard Health Meter, Mars also has a Rage Meter that is broken into four segments. As you beat enemies throughout the game and find power-up items you can fill all four segments. If L2 is held down while attack buttons are pressed, special attacks can be executed. L2+1- a circular blast projects forth from Mars knocking down all close enemies, L2+2- a circular blast projects forth from Mars killing all close enemies, L2+3- a circular blast projects forth from Mars setting all on-screen enemies on fire, L2+4- a circular blast projects forth from Mars burning all on-screen enemies to death. If only one block you the rage meter is filled only the L2+1 special move can be executed. If two blocks of the rage meter are filled only the L2+1 and L2+2 special moves can be performed, and so on.

Many of these attacks can be linked in different variations of combos. Ideally players would have freedom to mix it up as they wished. For instance, you could engage an enemy starting with the 1,1,1,1 punch combo, continue with multiple 3+R1 upward slashes, then finish the enemy with a 2+R2 compact grenade launcher blast. Of course any move that ends with the enemy knocked down can only be linked at the end of a combo.

Items /Weapons/Power-Ups:

Throughout I AM THE END there are sometimes hidden, sometimes not so hidden military style crates containing all sorts of items.

• Mystic relics that build up your rage meter
• Mystic relics that build up and lengthen your health meter
• Various types of unusual ammo
• Easter eggs- concept art, character bios, etc.
• Rare mystic relics that boost your overall strength temporarily

Progression and Challenge: Difficulty will advance by having smarter, stronger enemies as the game progresses. To mitigate this, players will have to play better and up their character through experience and power-ups.

Losing: Players can lose by completely depleting their health meter from taking enemy damage. As in Nioh, Bloodborne, etc. when players die they lose all special ammo and power-ups. When they respawn then can return to where they died and retrieve their items temporarily.

Additional art and concept:

Sample Baal Boss:

Sample Mars Animations: