Atman unveils "io"

Independent India-based game development firm Atman Software has announced that "io," its stealth-based 3D side-scroller game for Mac and Windows systems is nearing completion. "The Nautilus-114, a rather expensive interstellar research spacecraft now lies marooned in the orbit of Jupiters moon, io. The status of the crew is unknown. Now, five months later, a recon unit (Norton and Ned) of the Federation One's IAR team has arrived to study the causes behind the mysterious events and at all costs bring the craft back home. Once aboard they realize that the atmosphere is hostile and that failure is not an option." Players are challenged with bringing the Nautilus-114 back home, but face numerous robotic minions that inhabit the ship (pricing and a launch date were unavailable).

Io allows players to move the character in and out of the screen to hide in dark nooks, pick up secret items, shimmy across girders, and more. A point and shoot mechanism enables players to point and click on the screen with the mouse to orient on or shoot at the pointed spot. The game includes radar to spot enemies, night as well as thermal vision cameras, a Bottracker to track bots, a cloaker to go invisible, stealth suits to remain undetected, and heavy armor among other items. Weapons include a machine gun, rail gun, grenade launcher rocket launcher, gravity gun, and a flamethrower.

by MacNN Staff