ZA/UM
The studio that created Disco Elysium presents its new project: a spy thriller
After shaking up the RPG market, the Estonian studio has to prove that it is not a one hit wonder.
“One last dance on the remains of your humanity” ends the cryptic teaser of what ZA/UM has dubbed: Project C4. Barely a minute of (magnificent) illustrations, little to get an idea of what they want to offer us, but a lot for being the new from the Estonian studio, all the same. Because yes, some of the main heads that made Disco Elysium possible are no longer in the team, after a spectacular and public implosion that ceases, but the unique police story remains their legacy, and the yardstick by which what the current team based in Tallinn will be measured in the future. So expectations are always going to be high.
A story of espionage
The presentation of the new project to the press has given some clues as to what we can expect. First of all, it’s an espionage story, but nothing remotely like James Bond, Borune or other spectacular secret agents. We are in the territory of the most real espionage, the kind that should not be seen or felt, with a clear and notorious reference: ‘Slow Horses’, an espionage thriller starring Gary Oldman based on the series of novels ‘Slough House’ by Mick Herron.
The second, that the player’s decisions will be paramount in the course of the story, and the consequences of these will have to be equally assumed by him. “Will you be loyal to your friend and ally, or will you choose your duty over them? Will you dedicate yourself to your mission, or will you be held back by your vices? At the end of the day, whose side are you on?”, described the studio’s representative at the event, Siim ‘Kosmos’ Sinamäe, one of the heavyweights of the previous project, who was acting as master of ceremonies alongside Jim Ashilevi, Disco Elysium’s dubbing director. That flow of interesting decisions will be absolutely crucial to be able to see how close they can get to, or surpass, the masterpiece they built in their first work.
This is not Disco Elysium 2
And the third thing, in case it wasn’t obvious, “this is not Disco Elysium 2″. There have been up to four known cancelled projects within ZA/UM. Project M0 was going to be a game set in the Elysium universe designed for mobile. Project P1 was to be a sci-fi game, which fell apart when producer Kaur Kender left the studio in the midst of the war unleashed within it (he is one of those who have created their own “spiritual heir” to ZA/UM in the form of Dark Math Games, with a first project announced: a detective story called XXX NIGHTSHIFT). And then Project Y12 and Project X7, the expansion and sequel to Disco Elysium respectively, which are also sleeping the sleep of the just, as far as anyone knows. C4 is what’s left after three raw years internally, and surely what will determine the medium-term future of ZA/UM.
Not much else, for the moment. The teaser, the declaration of intentions and a more or less approximate idea of what we can expect thematically, accompanied by a fantastic artwork that draws from surrealism and that surely says much more than it seems about the topics that will be addressed. ZA/UM is still immersed in a convulsive and bitter internal war, and up to four studios with ex-members have emerged claiming to be its heirs, including that of the main responsible for the creation of the Elysium universe, a Robert Kurvitz who founded, together with Alexander Rostov, the Red Info studio. Everyone is in the race to be the “new ZA/UM” including, paradoxically, ZA/UM itself. With C4 they take the first public step to try to achieve it.
Follow MeriStation USA on X (formerly known as Twitter). Your video game and entertainment website for all the news, updates, and breaking news from the world of video games, movies, series, manga, and anime. Previews, reviews, interviews, trailers, gameplay, podcasts and more! Follow us now!