GRAW lead turns to Kickstarter to fund hardcore tactical shooter

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and Halo: Reach lead designer Christian Allen has taken to Kickstarter to fund his resurrection of old-school, hardcore tactical shooters.

He's after $200,000, and he's got until 1st April to make it. So far he's had 151 backers who've pledged a combined $7448.

"For years, fans of tactical shooters have been crying out for someone to make a quality, hardcore, close-quarters combat tactical shooter," wrote Allen on his Kickstarter page.

"But in contrast to these requests, game publishers eschew realism and tactics in exchange for ease of use and 'cinematic' flavour.

"[tactical shooter fans] don't care about a blockbuster cinematic experience; they can already get that from COD or Uncharted. They want a focused, challenging experience that leaves them satisfied in conquering it."

Christian Allen, founder, Serellan

"This campaign aims to see if my theory that real tactical shooters aren't dead, and that enough people want one to justify the cost of development."

Allen has started a new company called Serellan, and formed a small, experienced team.

"We are focusing our initial development on a hardcore CQB tactical shooter," he shared.

"This game will get back to the core of what is loved about the tac-shooter, featuring realistic weapon modelling, outfitting and commanding your squad, objective-based, non-linear missions set in real-world locations around the world, single player, co-op, and multiplayer.

The funding will help Allen prove to investors that the appetite for such a game exists.

"My approach is to look to the fans and what they have been asking about for so many years," Allen explained in a separate interview with Hookshot Inc. "They don't care about a blockbuster cinematic experience; they can already get that from COD or Uncharted. They want a focused, challenging experience that leaves them satisfied in conquering it.

"Pitching that to a publisher, though, is like pitching a new flight sim. They think the genre is dead, like point and click adventure games supposedly are - Double Fine showed them the error of their ways."

"This game will get back to the core of what is loved about the tac-shooter, featuring realistic weapon modelling, outfitting and commanding your squad, objective-based, non-linear missions set in real-world locations around the world, single player, co-op, and multiplayer."

Christian Allen

Tim Schafer's Double Fine studio received overwhelming Kickstarter support for an old school point and click adventure project. Double Fine sought $400,000, but has received - with eight days to go - a staggering $2.4 million from 69,507 backers.

Christian Allen and Serellan will reward Kickstarter funders in different ways. There are three tiers of involvement: Silver, Gold and Platinum. Pledging $50 or more gets you into the Silver tier, where you'll be able to vote game content. Pledging $100 or more gets you into the Gold tier, allowing you to submit content for the game. And pledging $1000 or more gets you into the Platinum tier, where you'll participate in "creative meetings, visit the studio, and much more".

The rewards continue to scale up to donations of $10,000 or more, and they all stack, meaning that at $10,000 you receive every tier of rewards.

Pledging top whack - $10,000 or more - gets you a custom Baretta gun by Christian Allen himself. You can opt for a BBgun replica if the laws of your country/state don't allow this. $7500 or more has Christian Allen fly to your home town to organise a LAN party; $5000 or more involves a trip to the studio and to a shooting range; and $2500 has your face and name put on a team member in the game.