Transit problems are the last thing New Yorkers have to worry about in Empyre: Lord of the Sea Gates. The first effort from indie studio Coin Operated Games plunges players into an action role-playing game set in a Neo-Victorian New York that’s flooded. It comes out for PC later this year on October 4.
Set in an alternate timeline during the 1910s, Empyre tasks players with surviving a city that’s attempting to rebuild after an environmental catastrophe that’s flooded most of the world. It’s an isometric RPG that combines turn-based strategy and real-time combat.
Paul Noth, a writer and cartoonist, wrote Empyre’s story. It’s quite a departure from his previous work, which includes cartoons for The New Yorker and creating Pale Force, an animated show starring comedian Jim Gaffigan. He’s also developed shows for Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Nickelodeon, but this will be his first foray into games.
While players are looking for drinkable water, they’ll also have to embark on side quests and take care of daily tasks, which are based on Coin Operated Games’s historical research on what everyday life was like in the late 19th century.