One wouldn’t necessarily associate music acts with videogames, but it’s set to become a common association if Linkin Park’s new venture is anything to go by. The musicians, who are known to incorporate various forms of technology into their musical productions, announced the launch of their very own videogame over the weekend.

Titled ‘Linkin Park Recharge – Wastelands’, the third person action shooter was developed with the help of Swiss games company Kuuluu Interactive, and takes place in a barren wasteland. The title is now available for Apple’s iPad, and also lets you hear the song ‘Wastelands’ before the scheduled mid-June release of their full-length ‘The Hunting Party’ album.

“As a member of a specialised resistance unit, the player will fight through hostile territory and complete missions through judicious use of resources. The enemies are the “Hybrids,” a race of genetically-engineered bio-mechanical androids who rule over the post-apocalyptic planet. The player will travel through the hostile wastelands on different missions with the aim of depriving the Hybrids of the energy they so badly need,” the band said in a press statement.

The game takes place over 50 missions, and there is also the opportunity for you to post your scores to an online leaderboard so that you can compete with friends.

Members of the band also appear in the game, but the title has a message that shouldn’t be lost on adventure-seekers. Linkin Park hopes to raise awareness for ongoing real-life “energy poverty”, and want to promote better management and use of our planet‘s resources. The group works closely with non-profit organisations Music For Relief and the Power The World programme, which “aims to help people for whom inadequate energy supply has a negative impact on health, education, safety and general quality of life.”

The game can be bought here for just R34.99.

[Source: Linkin Park]