Concept art and details have surfaced from a reported successor to Left 4 Dead from Turtle Rock Studios. Titled Invaders, players would have been tasked with repelling an alien invasion on the United Kingdom.
Unforgotten Games published a video collecting concept art and other documents relating to the game, telling the story of its creation and ultimate demise. It’s worth taking all of this with a pinch of salt given the video doesn’t explicitly cite any studio sources – but you can check out some of the art from the video, which is still live on the Artstation account of Concept Artist Anthony Sixto.
The premise of the shelved game can be found in some of the descriptions accompanying Sixto’s concept art. The idea was that monsters had risen from the ocean and invaded London and, in response, people “from all walks of life from across the UK” had decided to rise up and stop them, “cobbling together makeshift weapons.”
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According to Unforgotten Games’ research, Turtle Rock reportedly started working on Invaders after the release of Evolve in 2015, with plans for the game to arrive on Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Set in a “not-so distant future,” the game starred “everyday people” who were forced into the fray, such as crab fisherman, journalists, far-left skinheads, college professors and homeless people. Some of the character designs found in Sixto’s concept art split the playable characters into different classes such as Hero, Tech, Medic and Sidekick, with abilities tied to each that take advantage of their volition and aid in combat and exploration.
As well as a range of smaller aliens with special abilities to test players’ mettle (much like the special infected in Left 4 Dead) the game would also have large-scale battles with “megaboss” aliens. Players were tasked with co-operating to find weak points and bring down the gigantic creatures. The game’s final boss was also apparently a massive lurking alien “mothership” that was always in the background, thought to be “part of the scenery.” This mothership would learn and grow throughout the narrative, its visual style changing over time prior to the final showdown. A LinkedIn resume found by Unforgotten Games also teased that the game might have featured “procedural destruction systems and screenspace weather shaders.”
Despite the interesting premise, Invaders clearly never saw the light of day, and now Turtle Rock Studios is working on a more traditional Left 4 Dead successor called Back 4 Blood. Some concept art for Back 4 Blood was revealed back in July, showing a ramshackle human settlement surrounded by traps.
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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com Concept Art Reveals Apparently Canceled Left 4 Dead Successor, Invaders