What is the world going to look like in six years? It's hard to say. I'm pretty sure nobody had "global pandemic" on their bingo cards back in 2016, and all of the general crappiness of the last two years makes predicting 2028 a pretty scary ordeal.
For the protagonist of I am Future, though, he's surprisingly unbothered about being accidentally unleashed from a pod following a six-year slumber. Six years, six months and five days to be exact. I assume his unperturbed attitude has something to do with the fact he's likely already seen some bad stuff, judging by his mechanical arm. He's definitely a lot more chill than I'd be, anyway. As he enthusiastically proclaims in the trailer, shown at the PC Gaming Show: "I have no idea where the hell I am but damn, this place is gorgeous."
Gorgeous is right. The aptly-named Eden seems to be years beyond containing any civilisation. Skyscrapers and yachts have become nature's playground, while water floods areas once prone to heavy footfall. Vines wrap their way around pipes while grass and trees grow at their feet. It may be a post-apocalyptic landscape, but it's a rather pretty one.
I am Future doesn't want to you bitterly survive, it wants you to thrive. Enjoy the lack of capitalism: no corporate lifestyle, no grindset, nobody to answer to. No living in poverty as you watch the rich get richer. Take what's left of the manmade land and make it your own, man. You'll be turning the rooftop you woke up on into a cosy home and functional base. It looks like your mechanical arm can handily (no pun intended, sorry) transform into tools too, with the trailer showing our happy protagonist with a circular saw arm hacking away at some lumber.
If the trailer's anything to go by, you'll also be able to fish in the flooded waters surrounding your new home and eventually build or recruit little robot helpers to take care of some of the busy work and provide a bit of social interaction. There's an adorable farmer bot complete with a straw hat and even a drone to zip around and complete tasks for you. Doesn't sound like a half-bad life eh?
Of course, setting up a cosy little life on an abandoned roof dozens of years after civilisation collapsed was never going to be all sunshine and rainbows. There may not be humans ruining everything, but apocalypses have a funny way of bringing about new dangers that have probably never been seen before. Make your veranda paradise cute, but maybe whack a few defence mechanisms up too. Just in case.
There's also the whole thing of how our guy even ended up in a pod on a rooftop in the first place. I Am Future promises to have the answers as you gradually explore the city ruins and uncover the mysteries of how Eden ended up like this, how you ended up here, and how the whole thing ties together.
It looks to be a fantastic twist on the survival genre, though I'm sure it's not without its ominous rumblings regarding world dangers and the backstory behind the protagonist and Eden itself. I Am Future releases on Steam later this year, and you can wishlist it right now.
