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Game Description

Retrovirus is a six degrees of freedom shooter which sends players into the depths of a computer on a search and destroy mission against an invasive virus.  Retrovirus is being created by Cadenza Interactive, the indie studio behind the popular tower defense game Sol Survivor.

Players take command of an antivirus program, armed with the tools necessary to erase the virus’ very existence from the system.  Movement and exploration are core to the gameplay, and players are encouraged to adapt to the demands of a world where free flight is the norm.  Of course, the virus is armed to fight back, and first person shooter combat features heavily as players test their level of comfort with movement within the machine environment.  Each player is able to customize their antivirus program with different plugins, allowing for a variety of approaches to a given situation.

The Retrovirus single player campaign focuses on the core story of the game, with the player’s goal being the eradication of the virus and the discovery of its origins.  To defeat the virus, the player must solve puzzles, engage in dogfight-style combat, and explore the depths of the virtual world.

Retrovirus also features multi-player modes, designed to engage players’ social and competitive sides.  Co-operative multi-player allows players to complete the campaign of the game with a friend, teaming up to restore the system to working order.  Competitive multi-player will focus on the core of the six degrees of freedom shooter, hearkening back to the action-oriented shooters of the late 90’s and early 00’s.

Features
  • Discover movement within a six degrees of freedom environment, free from the limits of traditional gravity-based environments.
  • Delve into a two-layered story, exploring the real-world origins of a malicious computer virus and cleansing the inner workings of the infected system.  
  • Fight battles, complete puzzles and explore an environment built for the free-flying citizens of the computer system.
  • Customize an antivirus program, focusing on strength, speed or cunning, with weapons and utilities to suit a variety of play styles.
  • Join with a friend to remove the virus from the infected computer by playing the campaign in co-operative mode.
  • Compete against other players in a variety of multi-player modes, testing the limits of combat with six degrees of freedom.

Recent Posts

    • Cadenza and DRM DRMCadenza

      5 Apr 2013

      DRM or Digital Rights Management is a generic term for any method to prevent someone who did not purchase a copyrighted work from being able to use or distribute that work.  CD Keys are a common form of DRM used by video games, but recent years has seen many attempts by publishers/developers to incorporate more invasive forms of DRM into their games.  This trend has been fueled by some statistics showing unbelievable level of piracy.

      As a gamer, I know how easy it is to mitigate DRM.  Many times it is actually easier to download and play a game illegally than it is to do so legally.  So what do we do about piracy here at Cadenza? 

      Nothing.  We do not include DRM with any of our games.

      • I believe that DRM establishes a pattern of distrust and disrespect between developers and players.  
      • I believe that DRM hurts paying customers because it makes it harder for them to get to playing. 
      • I believe that DRM is ultimately futile because it only takes one clever hacker to crack the game for everyone else.  
      • I believe that gamers are worthy of my respect and trust.
      • I believe that working on stopping the irresponsible few is a waste of effort.
      • I believe that my responsibility is to provide gamers the best experience I can.

      With that being said, if you pirate games I have three simple reasons why you should seriously consider purchasing every game you play.

      1. Developers do need the money

      Believe it or not, games are extremely expensive to make.  Think about how much you expect the yearly salary would be for a single programmer or artist who is capable of making what you see in Retrovirus.  Retrovirus took 2 years, 8 months of development by a team of 5.  We wrote everything in house including our own graphics engine, editor tools, matchmaking back-end, and bug reporting server.  Why?  Because we wanted to build a unique game experience rather than rehashing what has been done before.  Sales of Retrovirus go directly to pay the developers, not a publisher like most AAA sales.

      2. Vote with your Wallet

      It is easy to think of game developers as large corporations with bloated budgets, and there is some truth to that but the real truth is that the consumer controls the content.  The reason that the industry is dominated by huge publishes is simple.  The industry has learned that you want to play the games made by the big publishers that cost $100 million to produce. The industry has learned that gamers want to play FPS warlike shooters.  The industry has learned that gamers want to grind out gear in MMORPGs.  Do you agree?

      Gamers vote with their money on what they want to see more of in the future.  If you want a say in what gets made by who then get out and vote!

      3. When you pirate games, it is easy to misunderstand the value of the game.  

      Did you ever play with LEGO?  Have you noticed how expensive LEGOS are now a days?  It certainly seems like the price of LEGO’s has gone up quite a lot since I was a kid.  Except that they haven’t.  This article goes into a great deal of detail analyzing the price of LEGO over the years and he concludes rather surprisingly that if anything, the prices have stabilized and gone down recently.  

      The author points out an interesting phenomenon where adults who remember growing up playing with these toys have a skewed perspective on their cost.  They misunderstand the true value of the things and this warped understanding persists for decades.

      I propose that piracy does the same thing.  If you want to have realistic expectations of the world and want to mature as individual then you should wait to play a game until you can afford it and you should purchase every game you play.

      (No Comments)

    • Sol Survivor and Retrovirus are on SALE! RetrovirusSolSurvivorFeaturedBanner

      21 Mar 2013

      Yes! You read that right! 

      All of our games are on sale! Sol Survivor is running at 75% off and Retrovirus is 40% off!!! The four pack for Retrovirus should be discounted soon as well!

      Check out the links below to the perspective Steam pages:

      Retrovirus: http://store.steampowered.com/app/227800/

      Sol Survivor: http://store.steampowered.com/app/45000/

      Tell everyone!

      (No Comments)

    • Game Day 3/21!

      21 Mar 2013

      Instead of a Game Night, we are running a Game Day! All day the developers will be in multiplayer matches, so just swing on by and jump in.

      The time blocks that will have the most amount of developers available are going to be

      11am – 2pm PST

      3pm – 6pm PST

      7pm – 10pm PST

      12am – 2am PST

      Keep an eye on our developer Twitter feeds for updated seat positions:

      @masterlatvia

      @RedSlav

      @BltRunner

      (No Comments)

    • Check out our Facebook contest! GiveawayFeaturedBanner

      21 Mar 2013

      We are running our first contest and there is a bounty of gear and games ripe for the taking! Check out the link provided to find out the details on how to enter! 

      Contest link: http://bit.ly/ZMQLBw

      Let us not forget, so it is written, so it shall be run!

      Good luck! 

      (No Comments)

    • Patch v1.0.5575

      14 Mar 2013

      - Added five new multiplayer levels: Chrome, Oval, Chimera, Halls, and Horseshoe
      - Added Elysium to Domination mode
      - Added temporary shields to structures in MOBA to increase importance of creeps
      - Fixed some linger effects hurting shielded players
      - Improved various particle effects
      - Updated positional HUD elements and High lighting detail to work with 3D depth
      - Single player now pauses while reporting a bug

      (No Comments)


    • Buy Retrovirus on GameStopDRM Free, Download Now Buy Retrovirus on Humble StoreBuy Retrovirus on DesuraBuy Retrovirus on Steam