Spy.” On the good side, we’ve got the organization called “Etherlight,” Ryan’s old employers who fired him because they said his practices as an “agent of light” (although extremely effective) were too unorthodox. (He especially dislikes being here because he says it’s too cold he’s a big believer in mittens.) Anyway, in this universe, the forces of Heaven and Hell are real, sort of like “Spy vs. In “Infernal” you play as Ryan Lennox, a wisecracking, gruff-voiced, stubble-faced ex-angel (yeah, like from Heaven) who is spending time here on earth unemployed as a newly-minted mortal. But Metropolis did leave us with their legacy of “Infernal.” Maybe it’s the closest thing I’ll get to playing “They.” Jeez, I’m pathetic. Who even owns the assets at this point? Will it ever be revived? No breath holding here. This convoluted history just tells me that labeling “They” as vaporware is not far-fetched. Isn’t that what every newly-formed, once-large developer is doing these days? Gotta go where the micro-money is, I guess. And right now 11 Bit Studios makes…drum roll, please…games for phones (pretty much, and some XBLA titles). #Morphx xbox 360 trailer seriesThen, in 2008 (after “Infernal” pretty much bombed its way off the market, at least in the west), fellow Polish developer and publisher CD Projekt Red, famous for the “Witcher” series of games, bought Metropolis, suspended work on “They,” and put the staff (and some Metropolis proprietary tech, which appears to be the real reason for the merger) to work on “Witcher 2.” Eventually, after further paring down and a formal closing of Metropolis, some members left and started a new company, 11 Bit Studios. This gradual move into TPS territory eventually resulted in “Infernal” being released in 2007, and work on first-person “They” commenced. Noteworthy among these was the “Gorky” series of games which stretched from about 1999 to 2005 (iterations that evolved from an isometric semi-strategy game into a full-blown third-person shooter). Metropolis, originally founded in 1992, was best known for several point-and-click games, as well as strategy and action games. The link? Metropolis Software, at one time the third largest developer in Poland, is the papa of both titles. Anyway, the story of the quick birth and (premature?) death of “They” is not particularly noteworthy, but it is connected to “Infernal” (PC, 2007) which I am discussing here. To be fair, technically, since 2010 the game has been labeled as “on hold” and not “cancelled.” Yeah, whatever. The trailer for the game, which was announced originally in 2007-ish, is here: But I fear that, other than a short (and too-dark) trailer which I’ve watched a few dozen times on Youtube over the past few years, “They” won’t rise from the ashes. Case in point: I just finished playing “Black Mesa,” the fan-made, free-to-play, in-development-for-a-decade total recreation of the original “Half-Life” but using the updated Source engine (a sheer delight and an undeniable success, though not without some hiccups). Sure, many titles have survived this awful label to see the actual light of day. The problem is that “They” doesn’t actually exist, and I’ll probably never be able to play it. Being a stellar first-person shooter with immersive environments and snappy art design, you pick up your futuristic, upgradeable rifle-rocket-launcher-laser-gun and kick ass all over London’s cobbled streets, while being guided-or fooled-by a mysterious, spirit-like child’s voice which may be coming from the past, the future, or an alternate dimension? The name of this game is simply “They.” Because of your ability, you know robots aren’t the real threat-the semi-transparent aliens, (completely invisible to most folks) sitting inside and controlling the robots from within…that’s the real danger. You’re a shady character with a special vision that allows you to see the real horror though. There’s a game whose setting is a near-future London that has been besieged by lumbering, multi-armed robots.
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