Post news Report RSS Quasi-PostMortem of the REX Launcher?

We look into the past of Sanctum's latest weapon and discuss the thoughts that went into its creation.

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When we decided to make the REX, we also made the decision to make something completely over the top. We wanted something that would make Doom's BFG 9000 look like a water pistol. Bigger, badder and better - that's our motto. (And what you get with an office that functions on testosterone.)

The first bit was the easiest. At first, we weren't really sure as to how much was too much. After a little bit of thinking, however, we decided that realism wasn't the most important thing in a game about purple aliens. Consequently, we went to town and made the REX about half the size of Skye. In hindsight, however, if you count the fact that the REX is also about twice as wide, it might be the size of your avatars - anyway, moving on.

Having decided on the scale of the weapon, we found ourselves somewhere vastly more complex. To put in colloquial terms, how exactly do you make a weapon bad-ass? Was it the visuals? Was it the amount of blood that would splash on it? Did it require a chainsaw bayonet? We weren't sure. For a week or so, we toyed with the idea of developing a portable torpedo-shotgun.

Obviously, that didn't come to pass. After some thinking, we opted for a creation that was more primal. What would be scarier than a nuclear weapon? Something close and personal, that's what. Something alive and conscious, something that will stalk till you give up. Since we weren't prepared to hand Skye a pet (she's nowhere near responsible enough), we did the next best thing and gave the REX eyes, teeth and rippling muscles.

But we didn't stop there. Jagged fangs weren't the only thing that signaled 'predator' to the lizard brain. With the assistance of one of our animators, the ever-brilliant Joakim Sjoo, we had the REX transformed into a living, breathing animal of sorts. At rest, it would occasionally stretch out metallic sinews. Twitch. Snarl. We wanted to make it feel as though the REX is a barely contained beast, one that could turn on the player at a moment's notice.

Having figured out the aesthetics, we moved on to the logistics of a weapon like this. What would it need? Huge burst damage? The sniper and the shotgun had those covered. Rapid-fire? Assault guns owned the market on that one. The REX had to be special. In the end, after much deliberation, we decided that nothing quite said bad-ass like a contingent of target-seeking rockets. The secondary would allow you take down things with impunity from a distance. The primary, on the other hand, would be a series of massive rockets - the hybrid best of both worlds.

So, there you have it. The REX. Biggest, baddest mother-coital relationship-er in the Sanctum arsenal. Awesome, right?

Glad you agree. Now here's something to blow your mind.

It's also free. Doesn't get much better than that, does it?

(P.S: It's our free weekend over at Steam. Why not Store.steampowered.comgive the ">baby a whirl?)

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Awesome_ninja
Awesome_ninja

With all the AAA titles coming out this week (Skyrim <3), I'll barely have time to play it, but will try to squize some time for sure to give it a shot xD

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