Maximum Games has announced that the development of their first new IP, Alekhine's Gun, has been delayed from hitting shelves on November 10th until February 9th, 2016. Alekhine's Gun is going to hit the largest core-gaming devices with PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4 releases planned. To help with the Steam release, they are partnering with Kiss Ltd., an indie publishing and distribution company that is based in the UK. The developers cite a desire for a synchronized global launch on all platforms and around the world as the reason for the delay, with Christina Seelye, their CEO saying the following on the delay:
With Alekhine’s Gun being our first intellectual property as publishers, we want its unveiling to match the excitement generated around this title. Given the support we are seeing from gamers around the globe who are eagerly awaiting Alekhine’s Gun, we feel this game deserves an all-encompassing worldwide launch.
Alekhine's Gun takes place in the Cold War post World War 2, and through the 1960s as you take on the role of an ex-KGB assassin turned CIA ally in Agent Alekhine. With the world at the edge of destruction, you attempt to unravel a deadly conspiracy that threatens the entire world, set in the historical framework with the spy setting and Cold War classics of treachery, nuclear threats, and paranoia. Featuring 11 open levels, the game promises non-linear level design with multiple routes of victory and plenty of hidden rooms. The 11 levels are set in a mixture of civilian and military locations across the world, with levels in Europe, the United States, and Cuba being promised.
In game play you will have different types of things to do in the levels to accomplish your goal, and going beyond the plain shooting, some of your options include infiltrating via a variety of disguises and cons, stealing documents and information to help postpone the conflict, assassinating people (can anyone say JFK?), eliminating various threats in espionage, and exchanging information. It isn't enough to just have the information, one has to find a way to get it to the right sources. Of course, killing people can be done in all sorts of ways including using the environment around you ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKen301CcSQ Alekhine's Gun also draws on film-noir for its style, visually and heavily in cutscenes that help provide additional context and information. Drawing on a mixture of real world history, and conspiracy theories, Alekhine's Gun promises to have some really interesting work on the story side.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PahBV-aiNJg Quick Take
Alekhine's Gun is a title that looks really promising on the whole, and it looks like the decision to delay came pretty late given the promo hype and such they were doing with giveaways, as well as the launch date having been pushed since earlier this year. I suspect someone might have gotten through that launching in the midst of AAA season at the same time as Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Fallout 4, and Rise of the Tomb Raider wasn't the the best idea. On the other hand, launching two weeks before Deus Ex: Mankind Divided might not be the best choice either.
