Claymation lives on!
The Neverhood was one of the more unfortunate commercial failures of the point-and-click era. It was a one-of-a-kind (two-of-a-kind if you include its PS1 platformer sequel) claymation adventure from the mind of Doug TenNapel, creator of Earthworm Jim. A game with such a striking aesthetic deserved a much better commercial reception, and its poor performance basically guaranteed that we’d never see anything as remarkable again.
But surprise, surprise! TenNapel has rejoined Mike Dietz and Ed Schofield, both who have worked on Earthworm Jim and The Neverhood, for a spiritual sequel called Armikrog. Like its predecessor, it’ll be a point-and-click adventure rendered entirely in clay. But since no publisher is willing to back such a project anymore, the boys have taken to Kickstarter to amass $900k, much less than the cost of the original game.
It gets even better: Terry S. Taylor, composer of The Neverhood‘s bizarre soundtrack, is back for Armikrog. Also on board lending their voice talents are Mike Nelson (Mystery Science Theater 3000), Veronica Belmont (Revision3’s Tekzilla), Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite), Scott Kurtz (creator of the webcomic PVP), and Yakko Warner himself, Rob Paulsen (dude gets around lately).
Armikrog, if funded, should come out next summer on PC, Mac, and Linux.
Armikrog. [Kickstarter]
