Remit: Kernel (2015 video game)
Remit: Kernel was a third-person shooter video game published in 2015 by Camden Games, a Themiclesian entertainment company, under the Remit franchise. It was developed between 2009 and 2015 by Refraction Studio, which is owned by Attic Games. Visual assets were subcontracted to numerous other operations, and music was composed by S. C. Gore and performed by the Radio Symphonic Orchestra of Themiclesia.
The game is set in 2067, when most advanced states have implemented augmentations to their soldiers in an effort to increase their effectiveness. The plot of the game revolves around the recovery and protection of computer code (the eponymous "kernel") necessary for augmentations in Themiclesian soldiers, from an unidentified enemy country. In-game, the player assumes the role of an unaugmented soldier and must play against augmented enemies, as Themiclesia's code base and the augmented soldiers that rely upon it have been compromised. The game includes ground, aerial, and space combat, and the player may play the game as an individual or control a group of CPU-controlled soldiers at the same time.
As a new feature, the game contains sudden departures from the plotline due to allies' unpredictable actions, attributed to the compromised code base. Such actions range from neutral to highly dangerous. Bursts are classified into three tiers of difficulty and can be adjusted to a fixed number per game or occur at random. The player is encouraged to develop feelings for the augmented soldiers, even though he may need to kill them at some point in the future; however, killing allies to stave off negative bursts makes them unavailable and results firstly in poor morale then increased "mental entropy", which can lead to suicide and game over. Per the tradition of the Remit franchise, the character is given a five-year holiday upon reaching the good ending, implying that the game developers will provide a sequel five years later.
Quotes
- "Don't kill him! It's not his choice!"
- "You are a real monster; you just killed someone who a bullet for you in cold blood!"
- "Sorry, we have to carry on without you."—When the protagonist suffers from excessive "mental entropy" and is killed by CPU allies.
Trivia
- Kernel was teased in an April fool's day demo called 1867.
- The Themiclesian Marines, featured in the demo, are only a cameo in the finished game. A marine is shown in Base A leaving his plasma rifle on a table to make a cup of coffee, and then he leaves for "shooting practice" with only the coffee. The player can pick up the rifle but cannot equip it because his fingerprint does not unlock it.