EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/sthPSCP.jpg)
So there's a free to play game I discovered recently called Velvet Sundown. I don't know the correlation between Giantbomb fans and Teamliquid.net forumgoers, but I'd guess at least someone here has heard of this game, like me, as a result of Giantbomb's coverage. Although not too many people, because it doesn't appear to have an entry in the Other Games forum.
Velvet Sundown is a bizarre game. It's a roleplaying game, of sorts (not to be confused with the well-known genre of RPG). You're given a character, with a brief description of your history and motivations. You're given goals, sometimes clear ones and sometimes vague, and an inventory of items, sometimes explained, sometimes not. And you're put on a luxury cruise with a few other players of the same sort, and allowed to interact, start conversations, show off your inventory items, ask if anyone wants to help you with your goals, etc.
And for half an hour you make of it what you will. You buy a girl drinks and try the drug she gave you. You tell people about your overbearing father and make plans to start a nightclub with the bartender. Or maybe you use your tazer on someone because they shunned you. Then it puts you in a lobby with the other players, and you can chat before you all take off.
I've only played the game briefly, and I couldn't exactly tell you whether it's a good game or not. I'm not sure how much the developers deserve credit for the good experiences you have, since it's easy to make a compelling experience when you leave all the creativity to the users. And I suspect that it will get old after a while, when the same instances over and over get boring. Or maybe they'll keep adding new stories - who knows?
At any rate, if you've played it, I'm curious to hear what you think. If you pay Giantbomb money for their premium content, check out Vinny's experience with it. Otherwise, there's surely a few videos of gameplay you can find. If you're interested, I'll be streaming the game for a little while; check out my stream here.
Edit: Done streaming.
