phoning it industries

THE (SHELVED) GAMES


Killing Horizon is (was) a retro-style space shooter. It borrows elements from Asteroids, Tempest (and similar "tube-shooters") and more modern shooters (powerups), with a minor story told in a short introductory cut scene, voice-overs along the way, and a final ending scene.

A game with existentialism at its core, the basic plot revolves (no pun intended) around the character (Captain William Killing) being stuck around a black hole, trying to survive as long as possible in the hope that a ship will come along and rescue him, or at the very least, attain a high score in a game that he has made up to pass the time.

The game is played from an overhead perspective viewing the black hole at the center of the screen. This represents Captain Killing’s ship monitor, a la Radar View.

This survival requires him to dodge asteroids and kill as many as possible, trying to prevent them from entering and thus enlarging the black hole that will devour him if it gains too much mass.

As time goes on, the waves of asteroids continue to increase and survival becomes more and more difficult, requiring better weapons (auto-fire, spreadshot, bullet-strength powerup, photon cannon, laser beam) and ultimately, better dodging skills and defense systems (mines, space vortices, shields, health powerup, energy for weapons, abilities) and even more advanced physics systems such as anti-matter shields (Asteroid passes through? It becomes an anti-Asteroid and reduces te size of the black hole — but look out, one hit from an anti-asteroid and it’s instant death and GAME OVER, MAN!)

Tension will arise from small effects like increasing heartbeat and breathing, condensation on the screen (helmet visor), cracks on the as the ship becomes more and more damaged. The normally stationary camera will shake when the ship is hit by an asteroid, before finally settling back into position centering on the black hole.