First notes of Ballads of Reemus heard in trailer

Written by Jack Allin — January 5, 2012 at 12:05

Some news you just want to sing from the mountaintops, like the first trailer for The Ballads of Reemus: When the Bed Bites, a new comic fantasy adventure due later this month.

Based on the popular freeware series The Several Journeys of Reemus, the new game marks the first commercial outing for Reemus the exterminator and his purple bear sidekick Liam. The only way to get noticed in the town of Fredricus is through song, but Reemus is stuck in the shadow of his dragon-slaying brother, and his own exploits so far have "resulted in fire, flooding and massive property damage. Not exactly the most heroic tales to win over a crowd." Conquering a troublesome house fly should finally give him the stage he seeks, but the town is "too distracted to listen. Now Reemus and Liam must saddle up and embark on a quest to restore order to Fredricus and refocus the townsfolk’s attention back to where they need it, on them!"

The first trailer offers an early glimpse of the game's charming cartoon art style and bizarre environments, and gives a pretty good idea of what the townsfolk think of Reemus (short version: not much). The full game offers a chance to "sludge through swamps, barter with merchants, fly with birds, tunnel into underground lairs and battle giant insects" across more than 40 hand-drawn locations, meeting just as many unique characters along the way. The game will also feature full voice acting and an original musical score, plus optional side quests and achievements to complement its many traditional puzzles.

The Ballads of Reemus: When the Bed Bites is due for release on January 27th at the official website, available in both a digital-only version that can be downloaded or played online, or in a Collector's Edition bundle complete with boxed version, a Reemus T-shirt, soundtrack, and other goodies. Pre-orders are available now, which will allow early access to the game. See the website for complete details.