The first trilogy of Pixel Pulps by LCB Game Studio had phenomenally lurid narratives and retro graphics. Each game (Mothmen 1966, Varney Lake, Bahnsen Knights) stood on its own, but playing all three also means following the story of a paranormal investigator that is connected to each one. I deeply love and understand the trilogy’s narratives and have been waiting for more. A few weeks ago, the development studio announced the fourth title in the Pixel Pulps series, Grizzly Man. I was perfectly happy with this news. I could have lived on these scraps of information for months. Then: surprise! The entire next trilogy of games was revealed in the latest issue of Edge magazine. Again, the narratives appeal to me.
Further reading: A physical version of the original Pixel Pulps Collection is now available for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch.
The second Pixel Pulps trilogy already has a name: the Pixel Pulps Direct-To-Video Collection. I love it. I was a kid in the 90s and I know direct-to-video movies all too well. I think the theme fits well with the limited-palette pixel graphics. These three games also have completely different stories held together by a single character. But the focus is no longer the paranormal investigator named Lou: it’s a currently mysterious character called The Interviewer.
The first game in the trilogy is Grizzly Man, the title announced a few weeks ago. LCB Game Studio has described it as “a psychedelic, beautiful pixel art slasher set in Alaska during the salmon run.” The game follows Robert, a former MIB agent who suffered amnesia after a mysterious attack over ten years ago. He now spends his time as a field guide in the Alaskan wilderness. But this experience with a group of people is quite different from the others because they are attacked by the Grizzly Man, a mysterious figure rumored to be connected to the CIA and Project MKUltra (a real human experimentation program that ran from 1953 to 1973). Whether they survive or not is up to you.
Dark Side Sewers is about a former remote viewer named Ginno Wans. Ginno was part of the defunct Stargate Project, a real group of different projects that came together under one banner, but now lives a secluded life in his house in Pennsylvania. The Stargate Project ran from 1977 to 1995 and focused on finding out if psychic phenomena could be useful to military intelligence. (The program was featured in Men Who Stare At Goats, though not by name.) The military claimed that psychics were useless to them, but not everyone believes that. I’ll refrain from rambling on about it any further, but it’s a fascinating subject. So back to Ginno. He begins his own remote viewing sessions and sees into the future of humanity… and the start of the Moon Wars!
In Possession Junkies, Tanith is a Wiccan, the last of her line. Her family is gone and the ancient order has been destroyed, but she’s not one to give up easily. In rural Maine, she teams up with a few adventurous young people addicted to something unexpected – demonic possession. Tanith plans to recover lost artifacts during a daring heist, and she’s going to need their help.
Although Grizzly Man has been confirmed for PC via a Steam page, there is no further information on platforms or release dates. For insider info on all things pixel pulp, I recommend following LCB Game Studio’s Twitter account: they often post things like character sketches and game art. (The illustrations, created using only office supplies, are wonderful!)
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