After David Bowie's tragic passing, Square Enix offers Bowie's lone video game appearance, Omikron: The Nomad Soul, for free for fans looking to remember the fallen rocker.
When David Bowie passed away suddenly due to complications with cancer on January 10th, he left behind a wealth of creative endeavors: Iconic songs, an imitable fashion style, a well regarded filmography, and, unknown to many fans, a single appearance in an obscure Dreamcast game. Yes, while The Thin White Duke was known for living loudly, his lone video gaming outing slipped by quietly, largely unnoticed by the masses. But now, with the world mourning the loss of a legend, Square Enix is offering Omikron: The Nomad Soul, Bowie’s futuristic adventure game, for free as a tribute to the late musician.
When Omikron: The Nomad Soul hit the Dreamcast in 2000, it landed with a thud. With the Dreamcast struggling to compete with the PlayStation 2, gamers weren’t particularly inclined to pay any attention to an oddball adventure/fighting/puzzle game hybrid. While publisher Eidos Interactive planned a PS2 port of the game, the abysmal sales of the title ensured the port was quickly put on the chopping block.
But this caused a genuinely interesting game to slip under the radar. The game whisked gamers away to the futuristic city of Omikron, tasking players with solving a string of serial killings in the far-flung metropolis, all while avoiding the oppressive government headed by a nefarious supercomputer called Ix. The story is anything but normal, which explains how Bowie got involved with the title.
While Bowie admitted to not being much of a gamer, he played a crucial role in the creation of Omikron, contributing story notes and game design ideas, and even appearing as two characters in the game, portraying a revolutionary/sentient computer program named Boz, and the lead singer of a band within the game called The Dreamers. The game also featured songs from Bowie, incorporating Bowie’s track “New Angels of Promise” as the title’s theme song and peppering various songs from Bowie’s album ‘Hours…’ through the game.
Upon release, Omikron: The Nomad Soul saw middling reviews, but a poor launch and abysmal sales ensured that Bowie’s lone gaming outing went practically unnoticed. Still, fans of the singer remember the game for being the perfect kind of weird project for the infamously out-there rocker.
PC gamers looking to pay homage to the recently deceased singer may visit Square Enix’s official site, where the game will remain free to download until January 22nd with the usage of the code "Omikron" at checkout.
With fans taking to Grand Theft Auto V to pay honor to the recently deceased Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister, gaming is allowing fans to remember these iconic musicians in unique ways. With the world mourning the loss of music legends, there are few ways better to pay tribute to these fallen rockers than by cranking their music and enjoying them in video game form.
Source: VG247