We first saw Encased in 2019, when it was described as a Fallout 2-inspired game that was “building up to be the type of freeform RPG we can get lost in.” Set in an alternate 1976, the tale takes place within a massive, enigmatic dome uncovered in the desert, which is packed with astounding, sophisticated technology capable of transporting humankind hundreds of years into the future in an instant.
The only problem is that, much like a sci-fi Hotel California, live things who enter the dome can never, ever exit. Inanimate things can, which implies that all that cool technology is available, but only if you can find individuals ready to sign up for the job… for the rest of their lives. So we have the new “recruitment” film, which was released today at the Koch Media livestream, exposing a little more about what life is truly like under the dome.
Players will start the game in one of five “disciplines”—science, engineering, security, management, or convict—which will effect beginning stats and specialty possibilities, as well as dialogue choices available throughout the game. Shortly after entering the dome, though, things take a turn for the worst, devolving into “a dystopian task of fairly epic proportions.”
The Fallout aesthetic is evident, but Encased, which began as a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2017, also claims the Soviet sci-fi novel Roadside Picnic—one of the basic foundations of the famous Stalker shooters—as another source of influence. If there’s any doubt, it’s the kind of crossover that gets me pumped.
Encased is presently available in Early Access on Steam, with a full release scheduled for this autumn on Steam, Epic, and GOG.
