ADR1FT is certainly an interesting game to say the least. At first, it seems to be a rip-off of the movie Gravity, featuring an astronaut getting stuck in space due to an accident. The more you play, the more you realize it’s one big redemption story for its creator, Adam Orth.
Orth used to work at Microsoft, where he became the subject of Internet outrage due to his flippant “deal with it” responses to fans upset that the Xbox One would require constant online access (a policy Microsoft has since reverted). Orth became the target of the gaming community’s rage and stepped down from his position due to the outpouring of anger towards him.
Orth is now making ADR1FT to work through his emotions about the whole ordeal, and has tapped voice actress Cissy Jones to lead his project as the voice of the main character. iDigitalTimes had the opportunity to talk with Jones about the project, her time working with Orth, and how voice acting can be surprisingly dangerous.
“I’m the main character in ADR1FT, the one you control the whole time,” Jones said. “I also play one of the side astronauts who is dearly departed.” In ADR1FT, players find themselves in a space station above Earth with everyone dead except for you. Recordings found floating in the station provide extra information on the events that led to these circumstances.
Jones was originally supposed to provide the voice for only one of the recordings. Orth liked Jones’ performance so much, she was called back to the recording studio for more.
“It was two separate sessions, one was for the astronaut first,” Jones recalled. “Adam [Orth] called me afterwards and said ‘you know, I really love what you did with this character. Would you be interested in being our main character?’ And I was like ‘hell yes.’”
Being the star of a game featuring very little oxygen required Jones to have to record all sorts of different breathing patterns. “I went back down to the studio and we talked through the breathing styles he wanted to get out of me,” said Jones. “I ended up in the recording booth for four hours breathing differently. Faster, slower, dying, panicking. It was really intense. I may have almost passed out a few times, but I lived to tell the tale.”
Jones said that, despite what the collective Internet may think of Orth, he is a wonderful person and someone who is great to work with. “He could not be more humble or gracious,” Jones said. “He’s just a wonderful human being. Getting the chance to work with him on this redemption piece it just… it gives me goosebumps.”
I think it’s going to change a lot of minds. He really put his blood, sweat and tears into this and you can feel it in every frame,” she said. “It was a really great experience, I’m hoping to collaborate with him again.”
ADR1FT is out now for PC, which includes support for VR headsets. A release for the PS4 and Xbox One are scheduled for later this year. You can read our hands-on impressions here.
So what do you think? Are you interested in seeing how a space game can be an allegory for becoming one of the Internet’s most-hated people? Are you excited to hear more voice acting work from Jones? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
