Game Overview
Basics
Game Name: Ithaca
Players Name: Deacon Foghill
Overview: On its first venture out to sea, the cruise ship, Ithaca, mysteriously disappeared while travelling through the Bermuda triangle. Having suddenly reappeared, a military search and rescue squad was dispatched to investigate the situation and rescue any passengers. As the team arrive on site, they find corpses littered over the outside decks. The crew members and passengers have all gone insane and are violently hostile. Not prepared for such a situation, the squad fall victim to the endless horde of manic aggressors. One member manages to survive; the Medic. Deacon Foghill must make his way through the ship to head back to a helicopter and call for extraction.
Game Type: Survival Horror
Setting: A Modern day cruise ship. The game starts mid afternoon when the sun is just setting. The ship is in disrepair; heavily damaged internally, possibly compromising the structural integrity. Some areas show signs of heavy fighting. The ship had some form of unknown growth which increased the decaying process, making the ship very old.
Time period: Present Day
Platform: Windows / Xbox 360
Visual Style: Very dark, gritty, Realistic and unstable.
Story
The Ithaca. Capacity: 3000 passengers, 1000 staff members. Luxury rooms and a variety of indoor and outdoor activites. The perfect paradise cruise. Hailed by the media as a revolution in modern day cruise ships, everyone was eager to see the ship set off on its first cruise.
22/7/2009
The Ithaca sets off from Florida carrying its 3000 passengers. No problems reported.
24/7/2009
Communications blackout for a period of two hours. Communication re-established. Technical issues reported.
25/7/2009
Cruise ship sails off course into the Bermuda Triangle. Reason for sudden change in course unknown. Communications with the Ithaca have ceased. Reasons unknown.
26/7/2009
Communications with the Ithaca still have not been re-established. Initial search party sent out. Ship location unknown.
21/08/2009
Freighter on its weekly shipping route spots the Ithaca. Communications with Ithaca failed. Incident reported to nearest coast guard. Coast guard dispatches a small rescue team but was intercepted by the Military. Coast guards ordered to not disclose information regarding this incident to the media stating they were directed orders from the Pentagon.
22/08/2009 Present Day
Military Search and Rescue Team assembled from local divisions. Mission statement was vague and unclear. Information was stated to be on a “need to know basis”. Team dispatched via Helicopter.
Present Time
The Search and Rescue Team arrive on the Ithaca and immediately notice the scale of the situation. Hundreds of corpses litter the deck and all show signs of violent struggle. The team split into two search parties and, using both sonar and thermal imaging, began to search for survivors. The search continued for over an hour. The squad leader radios the second team to report back to the insertion point, however contact with the second team could not be made. Suspision growing, the squad leader attempts to message his commanding officer back at HQ but to no avail. Without a direct order from HQ and fearing for the safety of his team, the search team make their way back up to the top of the ship.
As they make their way back, Deacon Foghill (The Medic) sees something out of the corner of eye, and goes to inspect it. The squad leader yells at him to get back as suddenly from utter silence, a group of hostiles pounce from the ceiling almost ravaging the medic. Amongst the confussion, the team members fall one by one. Deacon and the squad leader frantically retreat to an elevator behind them.
As they dive into the elevator and push the button to go up, the elevator suddenly stops. The power goes out and they begin to fall. Everything under the sun is going through Deacons head, but as he closes his eyes, the one question which demolishes everything hes thinking is, “What have we stepped into?” The elevator falls 4 decks crashing at the bottom of the ship; the engine room. Both are knocked unconsciousness.
Deacon wakes up to see the squad leader sat up on the wall outside the elevator, barely alive. Deacon gets up, staggers out of the elevator and over to the Leader who has clearly taken the brunt of the impact, leaving Deacon almost unscathed. The squad leader then tells him that he has been trying to get in contact with the other team, but thinks that the signal may be jammed due to something on the ship. With his last breath, he orders Deacon to get off this ship alive and tell the world what has really been going on. The squad leader seems to know more than Deacon and the others regarding this situation.
Deacon is now alone and possibly the only person left alive from the S&R squad. He has to get off the ship alive but first must get to the main decks control to see what is jamming the signal and stop it in order for him to call for help.
Storyline not for player to know – yet
They were there to capture a specimen alive and kill everything else. This was a strictly need-to-know basis and only the Leader knew why they were all really here. A new division in biotics had been ordered by a private funder to create a superhuman which could be used in modern warfare (lol reference) and something on this ship was the start of it. This was why the military was involved and why the media could not be involved. A lot of money had gone into this project and this team was responsible for bringing back the results.
Aims
These are aims and objectives of the game.
* Find out what is going on with the passengers of the ship.
* Why have they gone insane.
* Get off the ship.
To do this you must:
* Get to the main decks control room and get the ships black box, find the jammer and radio back to head quarters for extraction.
* Picks up PDA’s of dead team members to tell the story
Gameplay
The player must get to the main deck of the ship starting off with a basic hand gun. The player must progress through the levels and kill anything that gets in the way, however the player must be careful because of limited ammo. Player must also avoid getting hurt where possible because there are limited health packs throughout, and these cannot be carried around with them.
Movement is like a typical game with a walk and sprint ability. Player can also jump and crouch.
Ending Credits
We WILL mo-cap the thriller dance in credits!
