Victoria, Sidney and parts of Nanaimo form the backdrop for a new zombie-killing game that one might say is being made in bad taste.
Actually, the game is called Bad Taste, and is under development by Cancer Cinema’s Celx (pronounced Cee-Lix) Requin of Sidney. A web designer, digital comics artist and game developer, Requin has partnered with Winnipeg designer Jeremy Zaczek, Victoria programer Mike Heavenor and Spencer Rice of the television comedy show Kenny vs. Spenny.
“Spenny was a fan of my comics,” says Requin. “We traded notes and got in touch and when I started (Bad Taste) he became a partner.”
Now, Spenny provides the voice of the main character in a 2D side-scrolling platform shooter. As a bonus, Requin says he was able to get the Finnish band Lodger to agree to providing their music for the game soundtrack.
Bad Taste, Requin says, is a send-up of the fast food industry — without getting overtly political.
Designed for mature audiences, Bad Taste features repulsive zombie enemies and mutated foodstuffs trying to prevent Chet (the main character) from escaping Victoria before a bomb goes off. There are in-game voice cameos by Kenneth Hotz (Kenny vs. Spenny) and Lloyd Kaufman (Toxic Avenger, Poultrygeist).
Requin, in his early designs for the game, incorporated some of Victoria’s famous — and perhaps even infamous — landmarks into the background. Players can see some of Chinatown, Fan Tan Alley and even the Fox nightclub, animated and drawn by Zaczek.
There are, he adds, some of Nanaimo and Sidney — all places where he has lived — in the game as well.
“I work on the mechanics of the game,” says Requin. “You need to show your programmer how the game is going to work.”
He also draws all of the original artwork, which he passes on to his artist to incorporate into the game.
Flow-through maps and the story line are all developed from Requin’s home base and brought together with his partners. It’s Requin’s first video game and he says he has spent the better part of two years working on it.
Having Rice and the support of both Kenny and Spenny is, Requin says, the cherry on top when it comes to developing and promoting Bad Taste.
The game is, Requin says, satirical in nature and “good Canadian content.” He says he chose Victoria as the main locale for Bad Taste because “it’s what I know.”
As the game nears completion, Requin says he is seeking publicity through online gaming venues like Steam Greenlight. It’s a bit like raising your voice in a crowded room, he notes, with a lot of competition for gamers’ time out there. That’s where he says the Kenny vs. Spenny partnership will help his effort.
If Bad Taste proves successful, Requin says he’d like to create more games and even turn it into a full-time gig.
“It’s been about one-and-a-half years on this one, and that’s working every day on it, non-stop.”
To see a preview of Bad Taste, go to cancer-cinema.com/badtaste or check out twitter.com/cancercinema.