The crowdfunding campaign for PC cooperative survival horror shooter Contagion has gone live on Kickstarter. Contagion is being developed by Monochrome LLC, the development team behind the popular Half-Life 2 mod Zombie Panic: Source.
In Zombie Panic: Source, players are divided into teams of humans and zombies. The zombies try to kill the humans and convert them into undead. The humans, armed with whatever weapons they can scrounge up, try to keep the undead at bay until they complete their objectives. They can place furniture and other objects to block the zombies' advance. Ammunition is rare, though, so survivors who don't play carefully will be worn down by the undead. Panic is a fun, if slightly raw, mod that I'd strongly recommend checking out for yourself. Here's a sample of gameplay footage from the mod:
Contagion features the same core gameplay as Zombie Panic and is also powered by the Source engine, though a heavily modified version. It supports both single-player and multiplayer for up to eight. Weapon and item placements will be randomized, while zombie spawning will change depending on the circumstances in the current match. The player zombies will maraud the survivors alongside an A.I. horde that they can summon. They can use a special vision mode to see their enemies better in the dark.
Monochrome LLC is planning three modes for the game. In Escape matches, the survivors must complete objectives and then reach a randomized exit. Extraction tasks the human team with finding NPC's and escorting them to safety. Hunted is a free-for-all in which survivors can fight each other for dwindling supplies in order to be the last person standing.
Contagion has been in development for two and half years. It's taken longer than expected, though, due to a disagreement with one of the initial co-founders of the project. Monochrome has been paying the development costs themselves up until now but need some extra funding in order to cover engine and license feeds, marketing and server maintenance.
The base Kickstarter goal for Contagion is $50,000 but Monochrome has plans for any additional funds. They'll be able to confirm Mac and Linux versions if they hit $75,000. If and when the fundraising total lands between $100,000 and $150,000, the development team will provide additional content like more maps and game modes. Should Monochrome raise $250,000, console versions are "a strong possibility." Monochrome doesn't say whether they're talking about current-gen consoles or the PS4 and Xbox One.
Contagion will be released through Steam Early Access on October 25th. You'll get access to the in-development game if you donate $15 or more to the Kickstarter campaign, or purchase the game for $15 through Steam. Steam will also offer a bundle of four download codes for $45. When the game officially launches later in the year, the full price of the game and the 4-Pack will jump to $20 and $60, respectively.
