Insomnia: The Ark began as InSomnia, "an RPG set in a Brutal Dieselpunk Universe" on Kickstarter in July 2014. It successfully raised $92,268 from 3,559 backers, and the game has been in development since then. The first screenshots from the Kickstarter campaign gave the impression of a top-down isometric perspective RPG in the tradition of the classic Fallout games. Now close to the final launch, Insomnia: The Ark is actually a third-person action-RPG, closer to Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas in its base gameplay.
According to Mono Studio, the game has been in development for a total of eight years. The studio is based in Samara, Russia, but includes a roster of remote developers from all over the world. Insomnia: The Ark is described as a labor-of-love RPG, and it takes place in a "colossal space metropolis brimming with the secrets of a long-gone civilization." Object 6 is the name of this space metropolis, which doubles as a colony ship in a 400-year journey to settle a new planet. The main campaign can be completed alongside four NPC companions with 12 different endings determined by the players' choices along the way.
I had the chance to preview Insomnia: The Ark last month, and I was particularly impressed by its worldbuilding and atmosphere. It definitely shows promise as a game world I want to explore and learn more about, though the localization was still a bit rough, with some placeholder translations. Now that the closed beta period is finished, hopefully Mono Studio has taken the time to polish and refine the game. It has the potential to establish itself as a great, unique franchise, but it can also backfire if it doesn't focus on its strongest points and make them more accessible to a wider audience.
What do you think of Insomnia: The Ark? Is the dieselpunk genre a good fit for an ambitious action-RPG? Let us know in the comments below.
