The event that took place this past weekend in London was a showcase of all that makes PC gaming great – from the biggest franchise titles to the dozens of indie developers and the hardware holding it altogether. BRB was lucky enough to get tickets to the event and so here’s a quick rundown of all the games I got to play.
It’s probably worth adding the caveat that all of these games were played for a relatively short space of time in an expo environment and almost all in beta so the actual performance of the finished titles may be different.
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Just a small selection of the 2D flying death machines at your disposal
Aperion Cyberstorm by aPriori Digital
Local multiplayer has fallen somewhat out of favour of late, especially on PC, however the talented folks at aPriori Digital are aiming to rectify that with Aperion Cyberstorm, a fast paced twin stick shooter. supporting up to 5 local players in a variety of modes ranging from standard Deathmatch to more tactical modes such as Domination and the unique Titan mode, where one player takes the form of the oversized super powerful Titan ship and the other players have to destroy them in order to become the Titan themselves and begin earning points. Think King of the Hill, where the hill moves around and is armed with turrets. In addition the game has a single player mode that takes the mechanics players will no doubt refine in the multiplayer and threads them through a campaign. If you’re a fan of bullet hell titles like Ikaruga or you just like blowing your friends up with lasers then you’ll find a lot to like here.
Terratech by Payload Studios
Ever since Minecraft first blew up on pc what feels like decades ago, there have been indie games queueing around the block to show us how to build things out of cubes. While many of these have been little more than rip offs, and even the more ambitious titles have disappeared from view entirely (anyone remember Cubeworld?) the team at Payload studios are aiming to add a fresh take on the genre with Terratech. Eschewing pixel heavy visuals for bright colours and rounded edges Terratech sees the plyer marooned on an alien planet trying to use the objects and materials around them to build a vehicle to enable them to explore battle and ultimately create an even better vehicle. Although it’s still a while off release the premise is engaging enough to make this one to watch in the future.
BFF or Die by Honey Tribe Studios
Another game trying to bring back the local multiplayer genre is BFF or Die. On the surface simply a 3d puzzle platformer BBF or die adds its own spin on the genre by forcing players to work together to solve all the puzzles, even going so far as to share a single controller between them. It supports up to 4 players and if the brief preview I played was any indication this will quickly become a firm favourite at parties, especially if your friends are the kinds who are comfortable being shouted at repeatedly.
I appreciate the optimism, but this probably won’t end well for that guy
Strength of the Sword Ultimate by Ivent
Although it doesn’t have quite the same notoriety as another fantasy themed hack and slash I’ll be mentioning in a little while, I was very pleasantly surprised by Strength of the Sword Ultimate. The work of a two man team this game takes the form of a 3d action brawler in the vein of Devil May Cry or Bayonetta. However the whole package is wrapped up in an art style that stays exactly the right side of cartoonish with some heavy stylistic nods to the old MediEvil series. The combat is weighty and satisfying and even at preview there are some fun character types to try out and viciously murder goblins with. Plus they gave out free stickers for beating the demo and I’m always sucker for stickers.
Homefront: The Revolution by Dambuster Studios
The follow up to the somewhat disappointing original Homefront game, Revolution never had much to live up to. But it’s taken a few changes on board that is all the better for it. Set in occupied USE in the near future, the player steps into the shoes of a freedom fighter trying to strike back against their North Korean occupiers. Although there wasn’t any of the single player campaign on show, instead we were treated to a preview of the co-op multiplayer mode. Although the shooting mechanics aren’t essentially very different to most FPS games in a post Call of Duty world. The game really sets itself in its little touches, including remote controlled bombs and proximity mines hidden inside teddy bears. It also have some of the best sound design of any game I’ve played recently, the guns make such a spectacular noise when fired you really feel like every pull of the trigger is unleashing something devastating. Although he progression and cosmetics for the online component leave the slight feeling that micro transactions on the way there’s no denying that this is shaping up to be a very competent shooter.
Umbrella Corps by Capcom
Another surprise was the recently released Umbrella Corps a spin off from the main series of Resident Evil games into the world of online objective based shooters. Although not the game series fans will necessarily have been wanting, especially given the popularity of the recent remake of the original game, it’s a serviceable little title that at least does something with the licence it’s been given. The visuals are stunning, the shooting and controls are tight and responsive and there’s scope to add a large amount of interesting mission variety across the variety of maps.
Protip: If you see this happening you’re probably screwed
Killing floor 2 by Tripwire
The original king of the horde genre, Killing Floor 2 is currently in early access on Steam. However it’s a far cry from the usual early access release in that’s it’s almost in its completed state and the team are just adding patches to drip feed content that would be DLC anywhere else. Killing Floor 2 is an ultraviolent zombie shooter where a team of up to 6 players have to fend of increasingly difficult waves of mutated monstrosities before confronting the boss at the end of the final wave. It’s brutal, bloody and a hell of a lot of fun.
Dark Souls 3 by From Software
As much as I would like to be able to pour out volumes about all the time I spent with dark souls 3, there’s not really much to say. It’s almost exactly the same as the series previous entries from what I played, albeit with an upgraded engine and shinier graphics. Although there was probably a large amount that veteran players would have found and appreciated, to my mind it felt pretty much identical to its predecessors, even down to the setting. There were however weird slime monsters so I suppose that’s a point for innovation.
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