Night Trap, the first full-motion video game ever released, is being remastered and released more than 20 years after its initial debut.
Night Trap was designed in 1986 and released in 1992 by Digital Pictures, a pioneer in full-motion video games and interactive movies. Its storyline, which pays homage to the cheesy horror films of the 80s, raised concerns about the violence of its content and ultimately spurred the laws mandating ESRP ratings for video games. Despite the controversy, or perhaps because of it, Night Trap sold over 1 million copies and continues to be a much-talked-about cult classic today.
The game utilizes live-action footage, with a storyline that can be modified through the player’s choices. It’s part strategy game, part interactive film, and part tower defense as you lead a team to defend a house full of defenseless young women against a horde of ravenous vampires.
With its more mature themes and unique delivery, Night Trap was ahead of its time and certainly better-suited to the modern gaming scene. This, coupled with advances in technology that can dramatically improve the picture quality, has spurred Night Trap LLC to start a Kickstarter campaign to re-release the game in a digitally remastered format for PC, Mac, PS3 and Xbox 360.
At the time of writing, the Kickstarter campaign has been live for two days and has already garnered more than $11,000 towards its $330,000 goal. Pledge rewards include copies of the game itself, a CD single of its iconic title song, autographed copies, vintage posts from its initial release, and even documents and files related to the Congressional investigation into the game at its initial release.
You can check it out at the game’s Kickstarter page.
