Final Form Games, a three-man indie studio working out of Philadelphia, announced its first title: Jamestown, an "old-school, handcrafted shoot-em-up" boasting four-player cooperative play and impressive 2D pixel art environments. The developer hopes to release the title for PCs some time in 2011 and other platforms afterward, and submit it for next year's Independent Games Festival.

Despite the familiarity of the game's title, Jamestown's plot isn't what you'd expect. It's set in 17th century British colonial Mars and promises "famous alt-historical figures", "majestic alien landscapes" "steampunk space tech", "hard-bitten settlers taking their shot at ekeing out a better life in the New World", and Redcoats and Martians settling their differences with spear and space-musket".

The studio has so far spent around 12 months working on Jamestown. "Year One was largely about investing a huge percentage of our energy into developing the game mechanics, technology, tools, and skillsets that we think are necessary to make our game great," explained Final Form's Mike Ambrogi. "Year Two is going to be about using them."

[Via louisg]