Stealer trailer is so damn beautiful you won't care if the game never materialises. Which it might not

Whatever this thing is, we want more of it ASAP

Words: David Houghton on December 3, 2012

Frankly, we're not exactly sure what Stealer is yet. But that's okay, because neither is its developer. Looking very much like a 16-bit Mass Effect with shades of Ghost in the Shell and Flashback, Stealer's trailer is one of the most impressive promos that have arrived this year, not least because of a blistering soundtrack and the kind of direction that makes it feel as much music video as video game advert.

One problem though. There's every chance that the game doesn't actually exist at the moment. Developer Winged Doom has admitted that the trailer is a mock-up for a game that he's still "groping in the dark" to define. Frustrating, but not much different to what triple-A publishers do with CG 'reveal' trailers all the time. WD is talking in terms of a heavy emphasis on atmosphere and exploration though, and references both Metroid and block-pushing puzzler Sokoban as influences.

You can track the progress of the game at Stealer's ModDB page. And it looks like that'll be something worth doing, if only for the hope of more extracts of that soundtrack.

Platforms:

Topics:

Indie, trailer, WTF

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Hobogonigal - December 3, 2012 7:43 p.m.

Looks pretty good. Can definitely see the Mass Effect influence in the Reaper-like ships and the start of the music definitely sounded a bit mass effecty. From the end of the trailer I take it we will be playing as the boy from Limbo ;)
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FierceVoltage - December 3, 2012 2:30 p.m.

love the music definitely sounds like the original mass effect
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Travia220 - December 3, 2012 7:32 a.m.

Can you explain to me how a cyberpunk game has anything in relation to Mass Effect? Mass Effect's distant future theme is so far from cyberpunk it's not even funny.
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Bloodstorm - December 3, 2012 7:59 a.m.

I think it is the music, which also put the thought of Mass Effect into my head, at least at first.
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CrashmanX - December 3, 2012 8:38 a.m.

Well it looks a damn lot like Mass Effect in terms of designs. Also, it doesn't look Cyberpunk to me, based on the trailer. It just looks like a 16-bit mass effect crazy awesome.
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ParagonT - December 3, 2012 10:31 a.m.

I see some similarities with the city being pummeled with debris, the Halo Reach cover's upside down sunrise, and the reaper looking ships, but it's not really a big deal. It still looks amazing.
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taokaka - December 3, 2012 6:05 p.m.

I thought the enemy space ships looked like reapers and that is as far as I could connect it to mass effect. However, what I want to know is how does this remind him of ghost in the shell.
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ultimatepunchrod - December 3, 2012 6:52 a.m.

That looks awesome! I hope they end up getting it all together. The music alone would be worth buying the game.
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bass88 - December 3, 2012 6:47 a.m.

Wow. That was like something out of the demo scene from the 90s. If he needs a plot, could it be he just stole a loaf of bread?
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