Krater Top-Down RPG Announced by Fatshark

Fatshark, the Swedish developer of hit downloadable games like Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, Hamilton's Great Adventures or Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West, has announced a brand new project in the form of Krater, a dungeon crawler with a top-down perspective.

The project was planned by Fatshark for quite some more, more than 10 years, according to the developer, and is finally going to see the light of day in 2012, when the studio expects to release the alpha version for free or for a low price.

After that, it's going to follow the strategy of Mojang, the studio behind Minecraft, for example, and make incremental upgrades while raising the price for the overall game.

“We are proud to announce a game that has been on our minds for over 10 years," says Martin Wahlund, CEO and executive producer at Fatshark. "We have always been fans of the classic top down RPGs, and have wanted to make this game since we started out in the games business.”

In terms of actual content, Krater takes place in a post apocalyptic scenario where a large crater has formed and various characters want to explore it to find hidden treasures. There are three major factions, four different classes (tank, damage per second, medic, or crowd control), and players can control teams of three characters.

The story can be experienced either through the single-player mode as well as through a cooperative one, with players joining their teams together and taking on special missions that require more characters.

Check out the full list of features below, as revealed by Fatshark.

- Online single player/coop campaign mode (where you can use your team of characters in both solo and coop missions.
- Explore the Krater world through an overview map where random encounters and a variety of mission locations will form the base for your game experience.
- Form your team of characters, choose from 4 different base classes (and a variety of races) and upgrade them with crafted items and abilities.
- The game also offers missions and challenges that caters for fans of hardcore game modes. Injuries and deaths, gains and winnings affect your team in both the short and long run.

Fatshark is already accepting entries into the alpha stage of the game on its website, and it expects to release Krater on the PC and Mac sometime in 2012, with console releases, for the PS3 and Xbox 360, set to arrive after that.