Picking up the pace now, as the final voting days draw nearer and nearer and we want to feature as many beautiful entries as possible! Today we have Core Elements, an FPS game taking place in 2053 Ukraine, Chernobyl developed by three young Indie Devs from Sweden.

Core Elements is a First Person Shooter that takes place in the year 2053 in Ukraine, Chernobyl. The game is a blend between a First Person Shooter and a MOBA and you better get your chemistry skills ready, as you are fighting with the Core Elements! Here's the dev's pitch:

We have imbedded MOBA gameplay elements in the game, these are what we call the elements system. It allows you to use the “core elements” for an interesting gameplay mechanic, where you for instance use carbon monoxide (CO) to perform corrosive kill. The game has you fighting the Global Defense Group to take back the doomed city of Chernobyl.  You get to fight underground, on ground, and in air.

Can you tell us a little more about your team at Digital Days Entertainment? Who is working on Core Elements at the moment? Where are you from?

We are a young Swedish indie-game studio with 3 employees. Victor Ek is our main artist. He makes concept, 3D models, and all of the textures for the game. Jonatan Lindemann is the team leader, and main programmer. He creates all of the environments, codes and more. Henrik Sandner writes all of the story and scripted events that takes place in Chernobyl. He also records all of the audio.

So a very small team, wow. You're totally up for the challenge though, from what I can tell. And what did I just hear? Chemestry? Why is your game named ‘Core Elements’?

You will need to find elements in Chernobyl and "craft" abilities with these Elements. You can find these elements in special containers and learn the ability from them by manipulating and combining various elements. When you have created an ability you can electrify your enemy or throw a "fireball" at them. If you combine different elements/abilities you will be a deadly force, but it can weaken some of your powers and at the same time or even take damage from executing them. So you will be shooting your enemy whilst your are electrocuting and you can run faster and even jump higher than other human beings. The player can expect a rich in-depth system for these abilities and a fun gameplay experience! At the moment we got eight abilities working but we will have approximately 20 Elements Abilities at launch and you will need to gather more Elements to upgrade your powers to get even more abilities.

Your character can do all of this because of an accident that happens early in the game while you are just a normal soldier in a battle. This happens because of a weapon that the "Global Defence Group" have created and this weapon was not meant to be used at that moment. After seeing on yourself what their weapons can do you will start to fight them and try to destroy their future weapons. 

So the first sentence in your Indie Dev Fund description is: “Core Elements Origins is a sci-fi shooter set in the radioactive slums of Pripyat” – a powerful prompt. A region with rich history and also sad memories. How are you bringing this to life with CRYENGINE? What can we expect from the environment? 

We try to create environments that mimics Chernobyl in real life. With the power of CRYENGINE and Substance Painter combined we can make this look true to the eye. We think we have created a powerful story to go with the environment.

I am sure there’s some thick plot involved in the game as well. Care to elaborate on that without spoilers? As it is a Sci-Fi game, will you even touch the topic of the catastrophe of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant meltdown? How far in the future is it set?

The game is set in the near future year 2053, 67 years after the accident. You will be able to find fragments scattered out around Chernobyl showing what happened in Chernobyl before and after the accident. The Sci-Fi part of the game isn’t that big until you reach the “endgame”. But there will be parts of Sci-Fi in the rest of the story too, for example all of the technology is Sci-Fi.

What are the unique core gameplay elements of your game? Will there be multiplayer as well?

Our gameplay revolves around the “Elements System” Which allows you to use the core elements to your own will. This helps you in the fight against the Global Defense Group. Yes, there will be a multiplayer as well. But we are not sure what to focus on at this stage of development.

What platforms will your game be released on?

We will be releasing on PC.

What will you do if you score a grant in the Indie Development Fund?

We will keep up the development of “Core Elements” and buy more professional equipment to be able to make the best game possible.

If I want to play Core Elements right now, or learn more about the game, what should I do? What’s planned for the near future?

Follow our Twitter for more information in the future, we plan on releasing a playable demo version in the future as well, so stay tuned.

That's it for today, friends! Stay tuned for our next spotlight tomorrow as we're picking up the pace to show you as many of our talented entries as possible before Friday.

-Nic