Back in April of last year, developer Sushee took to Kickstarter seeking €100,000 to resuscitate the Fear Effect franchise with Fear Effect Senda. Sushee wind up cutting it close, but eventually raised the funds, finishing with €107,285 raised. Fast-forward to today, and a new demo is available for the game

But first a history lesson. Fear Effect is an action-adventure game developed by Kronos Digital Entertainment and published by Eidos Interactive (yes, the one eventually gobbled up by Square Enix) on the PlayStation in 200o. Upon release the game garnered decent critical reception and became very much a cult-hit.

This prompted another game one year latter called Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix. Despite being called Fear Effect 2, the game was actually a prequel. It was also well-received among critics and continued the series' cult-hit status.

A third game in the series, Fear Effect Inferno, then began development but when was discontinued by Eidos citing budget issues. Kronos shipped the game around to other publishers, but were never able to secure a deal. Kronos eventually disbanded, and Fear Effect died with it....at least until 2016.

Fear Effect Sedna is set to bring the series back, and is actually a sequel to the first game set four years after it. The game boasts a whole new story and pausable real-time tactical action style combat.

Here's an overview via Sushee:

Fear Effect Sedna is set four years after the events of the original Fear Effect game, and things have changed for the team. Hana, freed from the Triad, lives with Rain in Hong Kong and works as an occasional mercenary, while Deke has grown apart from them since Glas returned to the US.

Hana accepts a small mission for a shadowy organization asking for her services. Her target: a mysterious ancient statuette held by the Chinese ambassador in France. She sees it as a good opportunity to visit her birthplace... But this 'easy' mission is about to lead Hana to something way bigger than she expected.

Meanwhile Glas is approached by a client who catches his attention enough that he soon sets out for Greenland.

How will these events bring the old team back together?

According to Sushee, Fear Effect Sedna "is dedicated to recreating the atmosphere and characters from the original Fear Effect. However, while there are familiar aspects of the game to previous incarnations of the franchise, you'll find yourself immersed in a completely unique and new world with Fear Effect Sedna - one that will appeal to fans both old and new."

All of that being said, as mentioned above there is a new demo of the beta version of the game available. The demo is said contain additional features -- like new locations and game mechanics -- compared to the previous alpha version. Beyond this, further details were not divulged.

You can read more about the game here and download the free PC demo for yourself -- via Steam -- here.

Fear Effect Sedna is in development for PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It is being published by Square Enix and is slated to release sometime this year.