MercurySteam, the Spanish developer behind Metroid Dread, has stealth-released a remastered version of its first video game, 2004’s action-adventure Scrapland.
Initially titled American McGee Presents: Scrapland – although the Alice: Madness Returns creator would later admit to being little more than a “marketing tool” – Scrapland is set on a world called Chimera, populated entirely by robots and with a “no humans allowed” policy.
Players primarily control a robot named D-Tritus, a newcomer to Chimera who becomes entangled in solving a series of murders that seem to have been committed by a human. There are 15 different characters to control throughout the game though, and 140+ missions.
Aside from a complex single-player story, the game also offers multiplayer spaceship racing and combat. MercurySteam describes the mode as “an intense combination of races and battles still unmatched in the genre. Create your games or join others, on a local network or online.”
In a blog post announcing the remaster, MercurySteam says the enhanced edition has been overhauled with “4K resolution, high-res textures by AI upscaling; enhanced illumination and lightmaps; new servers to power the multiplayer experience with your friends; gamepad support, and many, many more goodies!”
Although the 2004 version saw release on both PC and the original Xbox, there’s no sign of the remastered Scrapland getting a console release yet. However, it’s available to buy right away on Steam and GOG.
MercurySteam isn’t just looking back at past glories, though – in the wake of Metroid Dread’s success, the studio has announced its next project, codenamed ‘Project Iron’. While there’s no timeframe for the game’s release, the developer says it will be “a third-person action RPG set in a dark fantasy world.”
Elsewhere, the next expansion pack for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has been revealed, with Dawn of Ragnarök set for release in March 2022. Ubisoft will also be releasing free crossover story packs tomorrow (December 14) for Valhalla and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey players.
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