Arkane Studios has released new screenshots of its next game, a “cross-play” FPS entitled The Crossing.
Set in France, The Crossing will feature realistic near-future environs as well as a complex science fiction backdrop featuring alternate realities, the collapse of the French government, and the Knights Templar. Described by the developers as fusing the depth of a single-player story with the intensity and challenge of multi-player action, The Crossing will incorporate elements of both in a system the developers refer to as “cross-play.”
Simply put, cross-play will connect gamers to multi-player servers as part of the single-player action, challenging them to achieve their goals within the game against adaptable, unpredictable and downright vicious humans, rather than just another routine computer-controlled AI.
While details of how the system will function upon release have not been given, the expectation is that players with broadband connections will move from single to multi-player action seamlessly, while dial-up users will have the option to forgo the online component.
Based in Lyon, France, Arkane Studios is best known to gamers for the Ultima Underworld-like Arx Fatalis RPG, and the first-person-perspective action game Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. No release date has been set for The Crossing, but it is currently slated to ship on the PC and Xbox 360.
