''Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony'', also known as simply ''Jamestown'', is a vertically

scrolling shooter In computer displays, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display, vertically or horizontally. "Scrolling," as such, does not change the layout of the text ...

developed and released by Final Form Games in 2011. The game takes place on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

in an

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...

17th century, where the planet is a British colony contested by the Spanish and the indigenous Martians.

Plot

Gameplay

''Jamestown'' features mechanics similar to many other shooters. There are 4 types of ships available, each with a primary and secondary attack, and a "Vaunt Mode" which the player can trigger when enough gold from destroyed enemies has been collected. When this mode is engaged the ship gains a temporary shield, increased firepower and a score multiplier for a limited time, which can be prolonged and increased by collecting more gold. The game is playable in both regular singleplayer mode and in a local multiplayer mode supporting up to 4 players.

Development

The game was developed in two years by the small indie developer Final Form Games, and financed by the three founders' own personal savings. The developers present the

Cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

shooter ''

Progear ''Progear'' is a 2001 Shoot 'em up#Types, horizontally scrolling Shoot 'em up#Bullet hell, bullet hell Arcade game, arcade video game developed by Cave (company), CAVE and published by Capcom for the CP System II Arcade system board, board. Set i ...

'' as being the closest thing to a direct influence, and say that the animated films of

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

, in particular ''

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind may refer to * Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga), ''Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind'' (manga), a manga series by Hayao Miyazaki * Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film), ''Nausicaä of the Valle ...

'' and ''

Castle in the Sky , titled ''Laputa: Castle in the Sky'' for release in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, is a 1986 Japanese animated fantasy adventure film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The first film produced by Studio Ghibli, ...

'' influenced the artstyle. The story's alternate history references

Roanoke Colony The establishment of the Roanoke Colony ( ) was an attempt by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The English, led by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had briefly claimed St. John's, Newfoundland, in 15 ...

, and includes associated figures like

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...

Virginia Dare Virginia Dare (born August 18, 1587, in Roanoke Colony, date of death unknown) was the first English child born in a New World English colony. What became of Virginia and the other colonists remains a mystery. The fact of her birth is known be ...

, John Smith, and

Joachim Gans Joachim Gans (other spellings: Jeochim, Jochim, Gaunz, Ganse, Gaunse) was a Bohemian mining expert, renowned for being the first Jew in North America.Grassl, Gary C. ''Joachim Ganz of Prague: The First Jew in English America.'' Biography Early l ...

as characters.

Reception

''Jamestown'' and ''Jamestown+'' received "generally favorable reviews" according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

called the PC version "an accessible, punchy shooter with some clever mechanics at play and a surprising level of depth hiding beneath the 16-bit surface". ''

1UP.com ''1Up.com'' was an American entertainment website that focused on video games. Launched in 2003, ''1Up.com'' provided its own original features, news stories, game reviews, and video interviews, and also featured comprehensive PC-focused conten ...

'' praised its approachable, escalating difficulty, the 16-bit style graphics and its soundtrack. ''Jamestown'' was selected as one of the "PAX 10" (a selection of the years best indie games) for the

PAX Pax or PAX may refer to: Peace * Peace (Latin: ''pax'') ** Pax (goddess), the Roman goddess of peace ** Pax, a truce term * Pax (liturgy), a salutation in Catholic and Lutheran religious services * Pax (liturgical object), an object formerly kiss ...

Prime 2011 convention. The game was added to the

Humble Indie Bundle Humble Bundle, Inc. is a digital storefront for video games, which grew out of its original offering of Humble Bundles, collections of games sold at a price determined by the purchaser and with a portion of the price going towards charity and t ...

4 on December 13, 2011.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony 2011 video games Alternate history video games Bullet hell video games Cooperative video games Cultural depictions of Walter Raleigh Indie games Linux games Multiplayer and single-player video games MacOS games PlayStation 4 games Steampunk video games Vertically scrolling shooters Video games based on real people Video games developed in the United States Video games set on Mars Windows games