John Romero And Adrian Carmack Hit Up Kickstarter For Old School Holographic BLACKROOM FPS

Back in the fall of 2014, we reported that the legendary John Romero was working on a new first-person shooter. While FPS titles are a dime a dozen, it's hard to ignore someone like Romero, especially when the promise is that the main focus of the game will be its design, not graphics or other superfluous features. Today, we learn that that FPS is called BLACKROOM, and it's now ready for backing on Kickstarter.

When Romero first teased this FPS, he raised some important questions: "There are unbelievable amounts of new stuff to do in that [FPS] genre. The idea of a shooter is running around with weapons, in first-person, blowing things away. But what are you really doing? What is the world like? Who are you, and what do you care about? What are you doing in the world that’s different?" After watching the official Kickstarter trailer, you'll be able to see elements of these questions bleed through to BLACKROOM.

To create BLACKROOM, Romero has teamed up with id Software co-founder Adrian Carmack, who will head up art direction. The ultimate goal of the game is to give players a true "classic" FPS game, where strafing and rocket jumps are actually something that could benefit you. That could also mean the lack of regenerating health, which is one thing that could truly separate this title from the millions (give or take) of FPS titles that include it (and subsequently make the game a lot easier).

BLACKROOM's premise is a bit strange, but it's interesting. An organization named HOXAR has created a technology that lets people be anywhere in the world at any time. As you might expect, this kind of technology could have a few bugs, and as the player, you find out about those first-hand. Things go awry, and you have to fix the situation. The game's development is taking place in Ireland, where a ton of inspiration for the game has been found. Expect lots of castles and Irish-inspired towns.

A game dedicated to the PC, BLACKROOM will let players create their own maps, run their own dedicated servers, and of course, mod the game to their heart's content. The more you read and watch about this title, the more you're likely to be sucked right in and want to commit to one of the Kickstarter packages. That is at least if you're nostalgic for old-school first-person shooters.

IT IS TIME! The BLACKROOM Kickstarter has launched! https://t.co/HV7cO5ThkJ #makefpsgreatagain #fps #pc #TheReturn

— John Romero (@romero) April 25, 2016

Romero couldn't be more confident about two things: that gamers want a game like this, and that he and Carmack are capable of delivering. Romero says that he'll be in charge of designing every single level in the game, while Carmark will handle the art. They've also enlisted the help of heavy metal legend George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob) to head up the soundtrack.

Simply put, and in the words of Romero, BLACKROOM is a game "like only we can create". Excited yet? Whether you are or not, the wait will be a bit long: the game is expected to drop in winter 2018.