We’ve already posted about one cursed moonbase game this week, but I am a creature of multitudes and always have room in my heart for another – particularly when it’s been in development for almost as long as I’ve been posting. Routine is still alive, baby! Development team Lunar Software have finally posted an update about their first-person 80s-themed space horror, which had Craig Pearson rhapsodising about Kubrickian smoothies back in 2012. Let’s all celebrate by re-watching the last trailer.
Watch on YouTube
2012! Why, it’s quite likely that you, dear reader, were born after this project enter development. If that’s the case, I don’t want to hear about it. Do not comment upon this article. Leave me to chew over my memories of System Shock and the original Dead Space. Do not sadden me with such bright-eyed and bushy-tailed observations as “oh wow, a triple-A Lethal Company”. Do not ask me to explain the 1980s. Hush now, go Tik a Tok or something.
While much-changed over the years, Routine remains a game about exploring a lunar colony that has succumbed to a creepy robot uprising. You get a handheld scanner that looks like an original Macintosh and seemingly avails you little against the saw-toothed sentinels that stalk these creaking corridors. The base appears quite capacious and (pre-droid apocalypse, anyway) cosmopolitan. As described in Lunar Software’s latest Steam post, it includes a plaza where you’ll find tourist attractions, an arcade, and a mall. The post also digs into what’s been going on since the developers teamed up with publisher Raw Fury in 2022.
“Working on Routine has always been a huge undertaking for a team of our size and because of that, felt it was important to keep our heads down and focus entirely on finishing Routine,” the developers write. “But we are aware of the interest in our work and we are sorry for any frustration that this may have caused.
“In short, Routine is still very much in active development, and we are beginning to approach the finish line for the game. We’ve learned a lot from past experiences, one of those is not to commit to a release window before we’re absolutely sure we can hit it. However, we’re confident that we’ll be able to share more news on that front soon.”
The game is the work of a core team of three, with additional contributors coming online at intervals. When they announced it, Lunar Software had Doom composer Mick Gordon on the books, but according to the new Steam post, he left the project in July 2024 due to “conflicts in his schedule”. Nonetheless, “Mick created many outstanding audio assets that will be featured in the final game and provided invaluable audio direction for Routine” – the new audio designer and team will build on his labours.
When Routine was re-announced at Summer Game Fest in 2022, it had to worry about comparisons with fellow Alien-spawn Fort Solis and The Callisto Protocol. Neither of those turned out to be very good. Fingers crossed Routine will be all the better for its marathon spell in development. Fingers crossed these promises of an imminent release announcement won’t become – well, you know.
