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A project to save a devastated world, turned into a disaster of its own. A decade later, four people return to the desert that used to be the Aral Sea, each for his or her own reasons. In the form of a platform adventure game switching between characters with very different abilities, Residue tells the story of the people who tried to change everything, and how it ended up changing them. Residue is also a ghost from our past; the project around which we formed as a group, long before we started calling ourselves The Working Parts. After some years of development and a host of other projects (our entire catalog, really) coming in between, this is the year when we get to take you with us on our journey into the Aral Sea.

Post news Report RSS Residue Trailer live on Steam Greenlight

Residue is up on Greenlight! We celebrate this with the first trailer in several years - this time it's for real!

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Greenlight is finally active, and Residue is among the first titles on it. Right there is our new trailer, our most sincere attempt at showing what Residue is all about. Watch it now!

Steamcommunity.com

Over the coming weeks and months, this news feed right here on IndieDB will be the place to follow Residue. So just stay put, before long we'll have both lengthy articles about the state of the Aral Sea, and videos of old fishermen riding mopeds for you, as well as one amazing game experience. Thanks for supporting Residue on Greenlight!

But what is Residue? I like to think we put it well on Greenlight, so CROSSPOST:

  • Real-world setting: The vanished Aral Sea in Central Asia, peppered with artifacts of an all too real history.
  • A world imagined: Eerily detailed, vibrant HD art, closely based on photos from the Aral Sea and filled with secrets.
  • Something to say: Experience a thought-provoking, fully voiced story concerning the cost of saving worlds, without giving up control.
  • Exploration: Explore an interconnected game world using three characters with very different abilities.
  • Variety, variety, variety: From climbing to exploring to diving to navigating pitch-black corridors, integrating new gameplay elements at every turn.
  • Captivating Soundtrack: With many vocal tracks and an ethnic vibe, composed and produced by Joel Bille

Residue is an intelligent, story-driven 2D platform adventure in which you control three different characters, exploring an abandoned excavation site in the remains of the Aral Sea in present-day Uzbekistan. Once the fourth largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea is now an arid wasteland, a victim of decades of Soviet cotton irrigation. To some, it is the prime example for humanity to stay out of nature's business. To others, it's a world waiting to be saved.

From every disaster, new heroes emerge. This is the story of a suicide mission, an impossible attempt at restoring the Aral Sea. In the late 90's, a disgraced Russian oil tycoon found an underground secret that could save the dry basin.
The sea would not be changed. But for the team assembled to work the miracle, life would never be the same again. Ten years later, the survivors' paths begin to converge. Something is pulling them back to the Aral Sea.

See every side of the story
Residue has a story itching to be told. We have done it in the way that only videogames can - by putting you in the middle of the action at all times. Resisting the temptation of a clear-cut protagonist, Residue carefully juggles you to let you see every side of the story, alternating between three characters with very different abilities - each one able to reach places the others can't - and very different ambitions. At times they help each other, at times they are in opposition. Sometimes both. Nobody said things weren't complicated.
Did we mention Residue is crazy about the little details? While the main story may take you between three to four hours to complete, you can search for hours for all the little hints and references to real world events, as well as dozens of hidden collectibles and all-round secret content.

Always in control
As you can see from our previous, much smaller game They Breathe, The Working Parts are devoted to telling stories in new ways while keeping gameplay at the forefront. That's why Residue isn't a point-and-click, but rather a visceral platform adventure where you're always in control, whether you're monkeying around the ship graveyard or diving through underground tunnels, navigating old Jumagul through dark corridors with a flickering flashlight, or ascending the side of the gigantic stranded drillship with Nikolai's makeshift grappling hook. Around every corner, Residue will show you something new.

The end of an era
We know a thing or two ourselves about suicide missions. Residue started development three years ago by the six friends who would become The Working Parts, and has eaten most of our free time since then. We have poured our love into this game, and we have poured our hatred. It's the kind of naïve indie game that everyone wants to make as they start out, with dozens of unique mechanics, hours of voiceacting, thousands of sprites and animations and a story that challenges players both intellectually and emotionally - that's why we're immensely proud to have taken it all the way to the finish line. The beta is currently circulating around the internet, the final bugs are being ironed out. We have so much content we want to share with you; stories about the Aral Sea, the secrets of the water project survivors, and anecdotes from our own suicide mission. So stay with us on Greenlight as we make this dream come true!

Hugo Bille, director

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