There haven’t been many fighting games that I’ve really connected with. I’m not a competitive person by nature, and it’s a genre that is built around competition. The two times I really got into fighting games were a rivalry with my brother-in-law around Street Fighter II and another with a college friend over Soul Calibur 3. I still play them with some regularity, but I just have a hard time falling into them and continuing after beating the arcade mode a couple of times.

1997’s Bloody Roar was recommended to me a few times, but I only now got around to playing it. This is despite owning a copy of it, given to me by a friend who was cleaning out their basement. If I had known how firmly I would click with it, I would have definitely gotten around to it sooner.

[caption id="attachment_394235" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

A bloody good time

Bloody Roar was published by Hudson back in 1997 and developed by Raizing Co, a Japanese developer founded by former members of Toaplan. It was strangely released in North American arcades as Beastorizer, but on PS1 as its Japanese name of Bloody Roar.

It’s worth noting that in arcades, it was released using the hardware commonly (but not officially) known as the Sony ZN-1. Why is that important? Well, the Sony ZN-1 is essentially the arcade version of the PlayStation. I’m not quite familiar enough to be able to confirm that Hudson didn’t make any of their own custom tweaks to the arcade hardware, but the PS1 port is, under mild scrutiny, pretty much exactly the same as the arcade version. It just has some home console tweaks, like a new cinematic intro that looks dopey in that very specific early-3D way.

Speaking of early-3D, Bloody Roar landed during the 3D fighting craze that followed in the wake of 1993’s Virtua Fighter. It’s very similar to other games of its particular sub-genre. It uses three buttons (five if you have sidestepping turned on), and each level is a square stage. However, you can only ring out opponents if wall-breaking is turned on. The walls can either be broken by finishers only or just by bashing your opponent into them enough times. It’s your choice.

However, I think the official rules lean toward finisher breaks only. If your strategy in other games leaned toward ring-outs, then you’ll have to come up with a new technique.

[caption id="attachment_394237" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Select your fursona

Oh, I haven’t even gotten to Bloody Roar’s main hook. Everyone’s a furry! All the fighters can transform into anthropomorphic animals, and that’s where the main strategy comes from. You have a gauge that fills as you attack and get attacked, and you choose when to transform into beast mode. Once you’re in your fursuit, your character is more powerful, heals some of the damage caused to them, and gets a whole new set of moves. It gives you a major advantage.

The strategy comes from when to use this ability. Once you’re in beast mode, your gauge becomes a bit like a second health bar. It depletes as you take damage, and once it’s empty, you’re transformed back into a boring fleshy human. There’s a risk and reward to using it, and likewise, when your opponent unleashes their fur, then it’s time to get aggressive as you try to knock them out of it. There’s a cooldown period before they can transform again, so that might be a good chance to turn the tables.

It’s interesting because while the combat is simple and easy to learn, the strategy of transformation keeps things interesting. There are lots of combos to learn, and the fighting is very impactful and flows well. For a game that only uses two buttons, with another being unlocked via transformation, there’s a great deal of depth to be had.

[caption id="attachment_394241" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Go ask Alice

I wound up choosing Alice as my main. This is largely because she transforms into a bunny, an animal I have an affinity for. She clicked with me immediately, helped by the fact that she has a brutal spinning roundhouse kick and one of her grabs has her perform a Frankensteiner on her opponent.

Bloody Roar has a standard arcade mode, as well as versus and survival. It’s pretty standard for the time period. The story involves the Tyron Corporation, who created the “Zoanthropes” as weapons. They plan on brainwashing them, but a bunch of them break out, and that’s the cast of Bloody Roar. Like many fighting games of the era, the story doesn’t play into the game much. You get an end credit cutscene that you may or may not understand based on whether or not you read up on the background.

Strangely, at its default difficulty, I found Bloody Roar to be kind of easy. Most fighting games start you off against an opponent that barely competes before building you up to a big cheap boss that can read your mind. However, your first fight in Bloody Roar isn’t a complete pushover, and the last fights aren’t much harder. The boss isn’t entirely easy, but they aren’t cheap either.

[caption id="attachment_394242" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Follow the white rabbit

A lot of this kind of points to Bloody Roar being intended for competitive play. Unfortunately, it was before the time when online competition was really a thing, so I’d have to rope someone into a rivalry. Maybe someday.

It’s unfortunate because I clicked with Bloody Roar in a way that’s rare for me with fighting games. I want to build my skill with it and get better, but without direct competition, it’s hard to find the motivation. At the very least I have the rest of the series to play through. I’ve already managed to grab a copy of 1998’s Bloody Roar 2. There are five games in total for the series, with it ending completely in 2003.

The company that owns the license, Hudson, went bust in 2012, with all assets being bought up by Konami. They’re not the worst possible rights holders at the moment, but they certainly rank. I would be far beyond jazzed to see a compilation or new title in the series, especially one with online play. At the moment, you can at least grab the game using the PlayStation store on PS3 as part of the PSone classics lineup. That’s something.

For other retro titles you may have missed, click right here!

The post Bloody Roar is far overdue for a return appeared first on Destructoid.

Arc System Works has announced that they are porting 1992’s Super Double Dragon and 2003’s Double Dragon Advance to modern platforms. In addition to that, there will also be a physical release of the two titles combined with the NES Double Dragon 1-3 as well as the modern Double Dragon IV. Unfortunately, the physical collection is Asia only.

Super Double Dragon is the fourth-ish title in the series. It was also the last one to be worked on by the series' original developer, Technos. Although, series director Yoshihisa Kishimoto did return for 2017’s Double Dragon IV. Which is funny to me because he is credited with working on Super Double Dragon. So Double Dragon IV isn’t really the fourth official title in the series? Agh, my head hurts.

[caption id="attachment_394138" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Arc System Works[/caption]

Anyway, it received a rather lukewarm reception in its initial 1992 release. This is reportedly due to a lot of the game being rushed. It’s not bad, but the belt-scrolling brawler genre was starting to get pretty glutted at the point following the success of 1989’s Final Fight.

Super Bimmy & Jimmy Advance

Meanwhile, Double Dragon Advance is something of a remake of the original game. It was tweaked in many ways to include elements that were added to the series over time. It was originally conceived to just be this one big Double Dragon blow-out, where characters and elements from all across the property were crushed in one game, but Atlus would only pony up for the smallest available Game Boy Advance ROM size, which was 32 MB. Director Muneki Ebinuma says that he cut out over half the planned game to fit it into this limited space.

The result was another title that received a lukewarm reception. Once again, it isn’t bad, it just isn’t great.

[caption id="attachment_394135" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Arc System Works[/caption]

However, I’m happy to see the titles get modern ports. It'd be awesome if Arc System Works brought back staff to finish the games, but that’s easier said than done. If you’re worried about not getting the physical version, you can import it from Asia, as all the titles will be available in English. Otherwise, you can complete the set with the Double Dragon & Kunio-kun: Retro Brawler Bundle as well as plain ‘ol Double Dragon IV.

Double Dragon Advance and Super Double Dragon will arrive on PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC on November 9. They will be sold separately.

The post Double Dragon Advance and Super Double Dragon are being re-released November 9 appeared first on Destructoid.

Ravenage Games has dropped their ‘80s throwback dual-stick shooter, Mega City Police, on PC today. You can nab it on Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store.

Mega City Police is really nostalgic for the ‘80s. You play as legally distinct versions of various action heroes and dole out justice from the end of their guns. Every scene in the trailer is depicted under a CRT filter, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

https://youtu.be/lsYhwmKWqXo

Mega City Police comes touting eight playable characters with 16 different abilities. More impressively, it has more than 100 weapons and upgrades! I’m not sure if that is “100 weapons including upgrades” or “100 weapons that you can upgrade.” This is played underneath the pulsing tones of a synth-wave soundtrack. It’s also a roguelite, which I know means that half of you stopped reading. For those of you that remain, the levels are procedurally assembled, and there’s “a robust progression system.”

I can dig its vibes. I like dual-stick shooters and synth-wave. However, what really stands out to me in the trailer is the character selection screen. I just want to hang around in that police station. Those donuts look great.

Mega City Police is available today on Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store. Following release, Ravenage Games has announced that “the game will get 5 free expansions with new secret levels, agents, and couch coop.”

The post Dual-stick retrowave action game Mega City Police out now appeared first on Destructoid.

Sega has reminded us that Two Point Campus is a whole-year-old with a celebration. From now until July 31st, you can play the weird post-secondary institution simulator for free on Steam. There’s also a sale if you decide you want to be BFFs with it.

Two Point Campus is the follow-up to Two Point Studios’ 2018 Two Point Hospital. Rather than endanger lives by performing surgery with undertrained staff, Two Point Campus has you setting youthful education seekers up for life by saddling them with insurmountable debt. You do so by putting them through wacky courses to polish up their culinary and archeology skills.

The sale on Two Point Campus isn’t just for the PC version. The PlayStation (August 2-16) and Xbox (now until August 7) ports are also getting discounted 50%. No word on the Switch. The two DLC expansions are also on sale and can be bought in a bundle.

It’s well worth it. Not only did I give it high marks in my review of it last year, but I also selected it for a place on my prestigious Top 10 Picks of 2022 list. Every time a new DLC pack drops, I eagerly pick it up again. Something about the weird Two Point universe of daft, hapless puppet-people keeps me coming back. Speaking of which, I feel like we’re due for another expansion. I’m surprised one wasn’t announced alongside the celebration.

Two Point Campus is available on PC, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and PS5.

The post Two Point Campus celebrates one year with a free weekend appeared first on Destructoid.

Camlann Games has announced its unique take on the 4X genre with Ataxia, a cyberpunk crimelord simulator.

Do you like crime? Do you like dystopian future crime? It’s okay. You can tell me. I’m not a dystopian future cop. Honest. If those things sound like they itch your interest, then Ataxia might be the game for you. In it, you take control of a gang and expand, exploit, exterminate, and possibly explore a neon-drenched sprawl. I don’t know, the “explore” is part of 4X, and I don’t see much room for that in a city. Maybe Google Maps doesn’t exist in the future.

https://youtu.be/o31aKiAnpBY

The trailer gives an idea of what to expect, but since Ataxia isn’t scheduled to launch until late 2024, it’s still quite early in its development. You can expect “espionage, extortion, hacking, money laundering, or more.” You can also customize your gang with weapons and chrome to give them an edge in combat. Then, you can spend your ill-gotten loot to buy or construct buildings in the city.

I’m personally a fan of crime simulator games, since no one seems to pay attention to all the real crime that I do. These games help me feel “seen,” you know. Ataxia is looking like it scratches both my crimelord and cyberpunk itches.

Ataxia is currently slated for release on PC sometime in late 2024.

The post Ataxia is set to bring the cyberpunk crime in 2024 appeared first on Destructoid.

Rise of the Triad is a bit of a tough sell in today’s market. It was built on the same engine as Wolfenstein 3D, starting its life as a sequel to that. As such, it has many of the same strict drawbacks of that engine. Most notably, walls have to be at 90-degree angles, and the floors can’t change height.

I’m personally more of a Blake Stone girl, myself.

However, despite the way its development started and the shortcomings of its engine, the powerful collection of developers who crafted it has ensured that Rise of the Triad still carried with it a unique personality. It was never ported to console, but with Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition, Nightdive Studios and New Blood are looking to fix that with one big celebration.

Later. The console ports were delayed, but I’ve been playing the PC version.

[caption id="attachment_393728" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition (PC [Reviewed], PS4, Xbox One, Switch)
Developer: Nightdive Studios, Apogee Software
Publisher: Apogee Software, New Blood Interactive
Released: July 31, 2023 (PC), TBA (Console)
MSRP: $19.99

Rise of the Triad tells the stories of an elite group of special operatives as they infiltrate an island monastery currently resided by a group of cultists who are definitely not Nazis. Okay, they’re definitely Nazis, but since this is not Wolfenstein 3D 2, they’re a cult now.

That’s basically all you need to know. Actually, you’d probably be fine not knowing that, but there’s a cutscene that lays it all out anyway. The important thing is the Monastery is a sprawling maze full of traps and Nazis. You have a hand with fingers that can wrap around a gun, and that’s what you point at the Nazis.

I mentioned that Rise of the Triad has all the trappings of Wolfenstein 3D with its level floor and 90-degree corners, but the developers went pretty far out of their way to get around it. There is a degree of verticality through the use of walls and floating discs. There’s also a bizarre number of power-ups, including a couple that allow you to fly. Meanwhile, there are traps everywhere, like spikes and fire-spewing cannons. It’s a lot. It gives Rise of the Triad this really abstract quality to it. It’s rather bizarre.

Unfortunately, there’s a limited number of weapons. There are pistols and an MP40, and then you can also carry a limited-use rocket launcher. The rocket launchers come in a few different flavors, from plain ol’ bazooka to a big wall of fire that engulfs wide areas. They have finite ammo, but a good Rise of the Triad level will have you tripping over them every few steps. It’s a game that really wants you to blow up Nazis.

https://youtu.be/vRdZEY6EL5I

Henceforth known as 'ROTTLE'

A lot of work went into making Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition the definitive version of the game. While its transition to Nightdive’s proprietary KEX Engine doesn’t really come with much in the way of new visual changes aside from lighting and a few other flourishes that you can turn off, they made sure to pack in as much content as possible. Then they just continued to pack more things in.

Beyond just the 33 levels of Rise of the Triad: Dark War, you also have access to The Hunt Begins, the 8-level shareware episode. There are also another 33 levels in Extreme ROTT, which is a more difficult expansion. They’ve packed in Return of the Triad, an excellent fan-made Doom mod. That’s added separately, still running in the GZDoom engine. Finally, there’s The HUNT Continues, which is an all-new set of 21 missions created by various developers. To give you an example of what you’re in for, the first mission in that campaign is by David Szymanski, the creator of Dusk.

This is made possible by a really simple level editor that is available for use. So, beyond just the dizzying amount of included content, you can make your own campaigns or share with others via Steam workshop. I think the only thing missing is the 2013 Rise of the Triad remake, but I feel that it doesn’t quite fit into this package.

Finally, a lot of cut content was re-added to the game. This includes the different visuals for Nazi types, so the female guards have been re-implemented.

[caption id="attachment_393731" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

God Mode

If you’re already a fan of Rise of the Triad, then you basically just need to know that this is a faithful port that features a decent amount of bells and whistles. If you haven’t played it before, then there’s more to consider.

Rise of the Traid isn’t Doom. It hasn’t aged as well. This is largely down to the limited level design. Each map has a different feel and demonstrates its creator’s design eccentricities, but they all look the same. This limited aesthetic has an impact on the gameplay, as even while the power-ups and weapons can be over-the-top, the drab backdrop sucks out some of the excitement. It’s a lot of people painting with a very limited palette.

That said, the limitations I just outlined do help highlight how much fun the developers had with this game. There are things like getting baked out of your mind on mushrooms or turning into a massively overpowered little pooch that makes the experience extremely memorable. For that matter, there’s a variety of cheats that can make things more ridiculous.

[caption id="attachment_393732" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Dog Mode

I’m definitely not saying that Rise of the Triad is a bad game. It’s very enjoyable, it’s just harder to recommend to modern eyes. It’s fast and carries a lot of small details that make it unforgettable, but at the same time, its levels are rather suffocating. It has definitely aged a lot better than Wolfenstein 3D, but not nearly as well as Doom.

It bears repeating that if you are already a fan, Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition is a fantastic way to play it again. It’s not too much different than the old DOS version but includes cut features and all the content you could want. The new episode is a quality continuation that feels right at home with the rest of the game while still providing something new. It’s a great package all around.

Now, can I have a Blake Stone remaster?

The post Review: Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition appeared first on Destructoid.

Initially released in 1987, Double Dragon is one of the most important belt-scrolling brawlers in the history of the genre. While it wasn’t the first, and most of its mechanics were accomplished previously by Technos’ own Renegade in 1986, Double Dragon’s popularity both in arcades and through its home ports established the success of the formula. It has been cemented in the annals of game history (or however that saying is supposed to go).

Because of this, the series has never really died, even after the original developers, Technos, went bust. However, since 1995, it’s largely been remakes...or worse. In 2012, there was WayForward’s excellent Double Dragon Neon, but that kind of stands apart from lesser attempts to revive the series.

Now, we have Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons, which is a fresh attempt by Secret Base, the creators of Streets of Red. Is it time for this duo of dragons to actually rise?

[caption id="attachment_393653" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons (PC [Reviewed], PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch)
Developer: Secret Base
Publisher: Modus Games, Joystick
Released: July 27, 2023
MSRP: $24.99

Our heroes, "Bimmy" and Jimmy, are training in their post-apocalyptic dojo in the rotting remains of New York City when they get a visit from the mayor. He’s got Marian, who may or may not still be Bimmy’s boyfriend and who might or might not have died previously. I’m not sure if Double Dragon Gaiden is a prequel or a new continuity. I’m not sure that’s important.

What is important is where it takes its influence from, and it's a similarly confusing situation. I’m tempted to say that Double Dragon Gaiden is a one-button brawler, but it’s a little more nuanced than that. You technically have your default attack button, the “action” button, and the special button, which all do attacks. However, the special button requires you to build up a gauge (which generally happens quickly), and the action button is about as useful as a can opener on a jar.

With every character I’d try, they would invariably dash or roll past the enemies in front of them and then swipe at the air. The air was never impressed. To make use of the action button, you must have a really solid feel of where your character is going to land after their dash. Even if you do manage to get this technique down, the action button is far less useful than just landing a combo or special attack.

https://youtu.be/_c0ff_uZQrY

Sousetsuken

The combat system in general irks me. There is no real grapple mechanic, and jump attacks aren’t particularly useful, either. You’re mostly whittled down to spamming your combo and special attacks. To be fair, the enemies are brilliantly animated, and the combat at least has a sense of impact behind it, but that only goes so far. That luster is important to the genre, but it wears off quickly.

That’s not to say there’s no strategy present here, but a lot of it boils down to making good use of special attacks. As I said previously, your special gauge refills quickly, and there are things you can do to expedite it further. A lot of your success is to know how to make the best use of your characters’ three special attacks and pull them off constantly.

It technically works. Double Dragon Gaiden escapes the threshold of being a bare minimum brawler, but it also pales in comparison to some of the games that have been pushing the beat-’em-up towards a new standard. Compared to games like Fight’N Rage, Streets of Rage 4, and even the comparatively mundane Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge, Double Dragon Gaiden doesn’t stack up.

To make matters worse, it feels terrible on an arcade stick. It’s all that action button’s fault. That and the fact that the run is bound to a button and can’t be executed by double-pressing a direction. At least you can rebind buttons, which wasn’t an option on an earlier build I played.

[caption id="attachment_393654" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Dragon scales

I feel like most of the effort in Double Dragon Gaiden was spent on the art. It's funny, because when the game was announced, the gripe I heard people echo the most was that they didn’t like the art style. I love it! It’s colorful, clean, and well-animated. But whether you think it’s appealing or not, it’s the place where the love of the property is most evident.

The aesthetic is supported by the sound design. The music is decent, but the way that Double Dragon Gaiden screams at you in support of what a good job you’re doing is key. It feels very arcade-y, and adds to the impactfulness of the combat. On that note, I do think it’s kind of strange that there is no CRT filter option, but I might be one of the few people who care about that sort of thing.

And for as lacking as the combat is, you at least get some variety from all the characters. Beyond Jimmy, Bimmy, Marian, and Uncle Matin, you can also unlock all the bosses and sub-bosses. This means that, yes, you can play as Abobo. The single-player portion of the game also utilizes a tag system, which means that you’ll always have double dragons that you can swap between. You can only trade out when your special gauge is full, and there aren’t really any tag combo opportunities, but, at the very least, it works as a decent life system. When your main fight-person goes down, you have your second choice to back you up.

[caption id="attachment_393655" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Thanks, tips

One of the more unique mechanics that Double Dragon Gaiden implements is its progression system. There are four stages to select from at the beginning, and they change in length depending on the order you complete them. Your first choice is always going to be the shortest and easiest, with each one following growing harder and longer as you proceed (there’s an obvious dick joke there, but I’m not reaching for it). Beyond adding some much-needed replay value, it’s a great way of allowing you to personalize your journey. Got a boss you hate? Take them on first to make sure they’re out of your way.

On the other hand, there’s a lot of focus on gaining money that you exchange at the end of each run for tokens. These tokens can be used in a store to buy various things. You might think this would add a roguelite element where you buff your favorite characters between runs, but it totally isn’t. You have four types of things you can buy: characters, hints, art, and music. I only found value in one of those things. I’m not the type to listen to music or view art within a game, and the hints are things you probably already know or could figure out in a single playthrough. It’s things like “prioritize this dude first” or “try to group enemies together so you don’t get overwhelmed.” C’mon, guy. This isn’t my first rodeo.

I think that sort of outlines what a small production Double Dragon Gaiden is. It doesn’t really feel like it’s trying to be revolutionary in any way, nor does it seem like it wants to present you with a glut of content. It serves more as a tribute to the Double Dragon series but more in an aesthetic sense, as the combat system is unlike any of the previous games. You can tell that a lot of love went into making the game, but that doesn’t necessarily result in something indisposable or memorable.

It’s less a rise and more of a bow.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons appeared first on Destructoid.

Did you have trouble getting into Max Payne 3’s melancholic bullet-time extravaganza but couldn’t put your finger on why? I’ll tell you: it’s because the eponymous pouty-pants wasn’t wearing the face of Sam Lake, the original face model for Max Payne. Now’s your chance to finally get immersed in the dour, gritty spectacle with a new mod that transforms Max’s face back to the way the Gods of Visage intended.

The mod comes to use from Nexus user Alexsavvy. It’s no hack job either, as Max’s goes through a lot of abuse throughout the game. Alexsavvy has made sure that every scrape, bump, and misplaced strand of hair still reflects on the hero’s mug. Meanwhile, the distinct nonplussed look of the New York detective stays in place while he’s still able to move and show the full range of emotions that the original Max model did.

https://youtu.be/qAoKMhw5QmM

It goes even beyond that, as the burly physique of Max has been paired down, and all of his clothes have been altered to fit. To give a better idea of the changes, here’s what Alexsavvy had to say in their own words.

“In total, the mod replaces 98 models and 66 textures. Plus, models and textures in the mirror for the scene where Max shaves his head. Yes, you will see how Sam Lake shaves his head!”

It looks great, and I am tempted to give the game another playthrough just to check this mod out in closer detail. Sam Lake probably didn’t give permission for the use of his face, but knowing the guy (not personally), I imagine he’d be flattered. Oh, as it turns out, he just might be.

https://twitter.com/SamLakeRMD/status/1683864006233137152?s=20

You can grab the Sam Lake mod over here on Nexus.

The post Max Payne 3 mod puts Sam Lake’s face back where it belongs appeared first on Destructoid.

Modern Wolf has announced that Afterschool Studio’s tactical space game, Cantata, is leaving Early Access and getting its full release on August 15.

Cantata is about a future war between the dickish humans and the oppressed robot masses. It takes place on the planet of Shoal, where the wildlife isn’t too happy that their habitat is being fought over. The game was pitched to me as Advance Wars meets Dune, and I can see it. But beyond the turn-based skirmishes, there’s also some base-building and exploration to be had.

https://youtu.be/vxyfRxWUQX4

I haven’t had the chance to try Cantata, but it looks pretty incredible. The bizarre neon art design is a great foundational aesthetic, but the gameplay looks expansive and tight. It’s somewhat hard to find a game that manages to capture mechanical depth and aesthetic splendor. Since I haven’t wrapped my filthy mitts around it, I can’t say for sure it’s successful, but all this evidence is pointing to yes.

It’s an unholy marriage of tactical skirmishes and grand strategy. Also, there’s a map editor and multiplayer for people who like to confound their friends.

Cantata is currently available on Steam Early Access. On August 15, it gets its full 1.0 release.

The post Tactical sci-fi game Cantata leaves Early Access on August 15 appeared first on Destructoid.

I have never encountered a game that has made me feel as stupid as The Banished Vault does. There have certainly been titles with mechanics of abyssal depth or vast nuance that I don’t have the dedication to wrap my head around, but this is an absolutely new level. It’s layers of things that just make me feel mentally deficient.

And I actually had to stop playing far earlier than I intended, because there was this ever-present shame that kept clawing at my spine. I was hoping that if I kept scratching at the game’s layers, something would click and suddenly it wouldn’t seem like such a monumental task. Yet, the more I played it, the more uncomfortable I was. Enough is enough. I just need to unpack right now.

[caption id="attachment_393440" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The Banished Vault (PC)
Developer: Lunar Division
Publisher: Bithell Games
Released: 25 Jul, 2023
MSRP: TBA

The Banished Vault drew me in with its beautiful but highly unusual concept. It’s a strange marriage of religious imagery and hard science fiction. It’s monks in space, but the absolute literal sense. There’s nothing fanciful about its depiction of science fiction, it’s the most literal interpretation of both subjects.

The eponymous “Vault” is actually a space monastery where survivors of a strange phenomenon called “The Gloom” are taking shelter. The survivors spend their time traveling between star systems in suspended animation thanks to “stasis.” Every so often, they must stop at a star system in order to manufacture more stasis to allow them to continue their flight from The Gloom.

The goal of The Banished Vault is actually to find time during your escape to pen the Four Chronicles that can only be written in special buildings on hallowed planets. So, you collect resources, create stasis, and pen your diary. It’s not a particularly difficult concept. That’s not what makes me feel stupid.

https://youtu.be/l3NifGK7HfM

Getting closer to God

I think what poked at my insecurities most is the fact that there’s no real automation or delegation in The Banished Vault. Gathering resources isn’t a simple matter of plopping down a building and having it churn up the ground. Nor can you just assign an exile to a specific task and have them do it themselves. No.

Each of your exiles is given a certain number of action points a turn. Aside from when they’re in transit from planet to planet, you need to actually take these actions each time. So, if you need 4 units of CO2 from a harvester, you need to click for each one.

That’s not so bad on a microscopic level, but The Banished Vault will give you multiple exiles to keep track of. To optimize, you’ll probably be sending groups of them to different planets. You then have to perform a task on one planet, zoom back to the planetary map, zoom in on another planet, pick the factory that you need a resource from, and extract that resource. Over and over again. With 30 turns per star system.

And then you also have to keep track of how difficult it is for your ships to perform actions in certain parts of the solar system. The Banished Vault requires your ships to expend a certain amount of energy and have a certain amount of thrust available for each maneuver. You’ll expend more energy doing certain things or visiting planets with high gravity. You want to make sure you have enough fuel to perform the action, and then return once it’s complete.

[caption id="attachment_393441" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The merciless cosmos

Therefore, the overall goal of The Banished Vault in terms of design is forcing you to plan ahead. It wants you to know how many turns it’s going to take to perform a certain task. Wants you to have calculated how many action points you’ll need and how many turns it will take. This is something that I don’t do well.

Or do I? My bumbling did achieve success through a few star systems. I didn't stop playing because I was losing but merely because it made me feel insecure.

This is the problem here. It makes me feel stupid because I don't enjoy the complexities of its systems. I don’t want to play around with the energy calculator and take notes on how I’m going to perform certain action. I sure as hell don’t want to keep on swapping out exiles manually from the ship to the surface so I can get certain resources.

If some of this could be automated so that I could program multiple steps in advance, that would have been appreciated. Instead, I have to keep track of so much information in my head or write it down. Beyond that being something that I find very stressful, I also consider it uninteresting and unsatisfying. I’m sure that there is a type of person out there who finds this sort of thing to be the ultimate gratification. There’s also something to be said about a game that makes you get your hands dirty and takes away all those comforting little toys. For me, however, it just hurts to play.

[caption id="attachment_393442" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The unfeeling expanse

This is all played underneath an equally uncomfortable soundtrack. I’m not saying it’s bad, but it consists of a lot of deep, droning tones that I find difficult to listen to for extended periods of time. I even had the game alt+tabbed for a short while and found I couldn’t leave it running in the background, as it still provoked anxiety.

On the other hand, The Banished Vault has some lovely art design. It has ornate backdrops, wooden character pieces, and lovely hand-drawn cards. It can sometimes be difficult to discern the different ship varieties and building types, but it’s otherwise both beautiful and functional.

But that’s pretty small comfort when I don’t like the game. I was hoping that, at some point, the whole concept would click with me, but instead, I just found more complaints. I just became more and more uncomfortable and insecure.

Was that the goal of the developers? Probably not. It could, after all, be a problem with my brain worms and not with The Banished Vault at all. On the other hand, it’s such a deeply unfriendly title that marries simple concepts with a demand for particular skills. Putting myself aside, I don’t really see it connecting with a wide audience. I absolutely respect The Banished Vault for its unique approach and its wonderful choice of aesthetic. I just wish it wasn’t so aloof.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: The Banished Vault appeared first on Destructoid.

Home ports of arcade games can be a bit of a gamble. Often, they’re running on much less powerful hardware, and that can reflect in many different ways on the game. It might have less action, more slowdown, or it could just be a lot uglier. Other times, the home port of a notorious quarter-muncher might be rebalanced for the living room, as is the case with Super Smash T.V. or the NES Contra.

Old ports are also interesting from a design standpoint. Many were done by people who weren’t associated with the original production and didn’t have any access to the original code. They were, in a way, just sketching the closest facsimile they could to the original version. The faithfulness of the port was, therefore, all down to the analytical skills of the developer, as well as their access to the original source material and how many fucks they were willing to part with. Were they actually interested in the work, or were they just trying to get a project done before a deadline?

Pit-Fighter is an interesting example of this, as back when it was released in arcade in 1990, it wasn’t unpopular, but it also wasn’t 1991’s Street Fighter II. So, it was a bit of a crapshoot as to whether or not it was going to get a single decent port. There were a lot of them, and we’re going to take a look.

For simplicity, I’m going to look at the console and handheld ports. There were a number on the various home computer platforms at the time, but after struggling with the Commodore 64 port and having it crash on me midway through a loading screen, I cut my losses. Shame, the ZX Spectrum version is a thing of beauty.

[caption id="attachment_393303" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Sega Genesis (1991, Tengen)

The Genesis/Mega Drive version of Pit-Fighter is probably the best of the bunch, and I’m not sure that’s really a compliment. I think my fascination with it is more that it makes the game look magnitudes goofier. The digitized actors have lost a lot of fidelity, so it loses much of the oily BDSM club imagery. However, in its place, the quality and quantity of animation frames haven’t been increased, so everything has this delectable veneer of jank.

You only get three continues in this version, but the combination of easily exploitable moves and the relative passiveness of the opponents make it possible to get to the end. If you had to play a home console port of Pit-Fighter, this one at least meets the “so bad it’s good” threshold. It kind of proves that a bad port of kusoge isn’t necessarily just a bad game; it might just be a new flavor of kusoge.

[caption id="attachment_393302" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Super Nintendo (1991, THQ)

Pit-Fighter on SNES had to have been rushed. It released the same year the SNES did, which kind of demonstrates an effort to get it on the market during the fevered euphoria of a new console release. It doesn’t even try to replicate the UI, instead opting for something that looks like it’s from a development build.

The most egregious part about it is the AI, which seems to just be mashing various inputs. They’re extremely aggressive, and then when they get near you, their movements make no sense. They’ll jump randomly and start throwing attacks with no rhyme or reason. Then, once they knock you to the ground, they’ll continue to do little hops between stomping on you. It’s bizarre.

There are also no continues. I had absolutely no hope of making it to the Chainman. I’m not the only one, either, as complaints about the port’s difficulty seem rather pervasive. I searched to see if there was a buried continue input and instead found the advice to just keep mashing R while using Ty to win. Weirdly, I think this is the absolute worst of the versions listed here.

[caption id="attachment_393298" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Atari Lynx (1992, Atari Games)

I have a soft spot for the Atari Lynx. It was a battery-sucking handheld you could land a harrier jet on. However, a huge portion of its library was coin-op ports, and that’s kind of what the system was worst at. Nowhere is this more apparent than, perhaps, Pit-Fighter.

The screen is far too low resolution to really depict the game’s digitized actors, but they tried it anyway. As a result, the sprites are pretty dopey looking, and it uses a palette that is largely just greys and beiges. It does try to get the sprite scaling in there, though. As you move further back from the front of the arena, the fighters appear smaller. It’s better to fight closer to the screen since then you can at least make out what things are supposed to be.

Thankfully, that’s an option, since the AI is dumb as rocks. Each fighter’s special move is mapped to the Option 1 button, which means you can just spam it, but I found this to be unreliable. The best way I found to fight is to just stand still and hold down the kick button. It uses a turbo function so once one kick is complete, your fighter immediately launches another one. There are only 6 continues to get you through to the end of the game, which didn’t even come close for me. However, try as I might, I couldn’t find a better strategy than just letting them run into my foot.

[caption id="attachment_393299" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Game Boy (1992, THQ)

The port for Nintendo’s monochromatic wonder, the Game Boy, is not as bad as you might think. It plays better than the Atari Lynx version. The AI is more dynamic and closer to the arcade version, and the moves feel more responsive with better hit detection.

The problem is with the graphics. They still try to use the digitized actors, but when you cram too much information on the classic Game Boy’s limited palette, you just get a fuzzy mess. What’s worse is that most of it blends into the background, so the best way to track the combatants is by their much darker pants. It’s like playing a fight between a pair of disembodied pants.

Pit-Fighter is practically incomprehensible on an original model Game Boy. Using a Super Game Boy or Game Boy Advance makes things better, but still not all that great.

I initially thought this version was really difficult. It doesn’t allow you to continue without a code (Hold down and hit A on the game over screen), and when the AI gets the advantage on you, it can really lead to a pounding. But then I once again discovered the technique of letting opponents walk into your outstretched foot. I also iterated on this by pulling off a super kick while an enemy started their animation to get up from being knocked down. They’d stand up right into the kick. It carried me right to the end. That’s how effective it was.

[caption id="attachment_393301" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Sega Master System (1991, Domark)

For whatever reason, the Master System version of Pit-Fighter was the one that finally decided to get creative with the graphics in order to better serve the gameplay. It shrinks down all the characters, and the tweaked color palette makes things more legible. The handheld versions probably should have done this, but here we are. It’s a shame that this foundation wasn’t tweaked for a Sega Game Gear version.

On the other hand, it’s not really that much fun to play. I think this is largely because my exploitative strategies don’t work here. The legs of your tiny fighter are much too short to keep their opponent at bay for too long. The Master System controllers only have two buttons (no start or select), so your repertoire is more limited than other platforms. I was at least able to make it up to the Chainman’s stage. I needed to find out how his underwear looks in this art style.

Only released in the UK, the Master System version also has this weirdly enjoyable soundtrack that is credited to “The Doomsday Machine.” It sounds inappropriately chirpy compared to the subject matter, but considering most of the other ports sound horrible, I’ll take it.

A sketch of kusoge

Arcade ports like we saw in the ‘80s and ‘90s are rather rare today. I mean, for one thing, in this part of the world, arcades are practically extinct. But then, they also tend to have more universal hardware powering them and are built on common engines, so it’s less of an issue to transplant them accurately to other hardware. Older games are a different story, as they require some form of emulation. Still, a developer is more likely to release something accurate than to take liberties with a game.

I’m not exactly nostalgic for those days. I hate having to worry about whether or not I’m playing the definitive version of a game. However, there’s a weird creativity that arose from the challenges of transplanting games. Ganbare Goemon on Famicom, for example, was initially an attempt to port Mr. Goemon from arcades and instead mutated into a sprawling series.

More often than not, you just took the version for whatever was your favorite platform at the time. Then, you had to hope that the publisher cared enough about the game to provide you with a reasonable facsimile. Will a version of Space Harrier provide you with a fun experience, or will it be a janky cash grab? That little gamble is often more fun than the version you eventually wind up with, especially in the case of Pit-Fighter.

For previous Weekly Kusoge, check this link!

The post It’s time to oil up with the ports of Pit-Fighter appeared first on Destructoid.

Developer Joel Jordan has dropped Time Bandit – Part 1: Appendages of the Machine on Steam and itch.io today. You might remember it from my blockbuster article, “Here are eleven 2022 indie games to look forward to.” It’s now the middle of (checks watch) 2023, and it has finally arrived.

Time Bandit is the story of having a crappy job and working for the man. In this case, however, the man is exploiting workers and using them to gather time crystals for potentially nefarious purposes.

https://youtu.be/Ug4Uokxc1F0

But slow down there since Time Bandit also runs on a real-time clock. Sort of like Pokemon Gold/Silver! Your shift is based on real-world time, and different tasks take different amounts of time. Sometimes you even need to meet characters at a specific time of day that they’ll schedule with you in advance. You’d going to need to rein in that spontaneity if you want to overthrow your capitalist overlords.

I was hoping to get a review of Time Bandit – Part 1: Appendages of the Machine up at launch, but ironically, I just haven’t had the time. Hopefully, I can circle back to it because I really enjoyed the build that I played last year. I also provided feedback directly to Joel, so I’m eager to see if any of it was incorporated. It’s like I have skin in the game when, in reality, I’m not really much different than any normal commenter.

Time Bandit – Part 1: Appendages of the Machine is available on PC and Mac via Steam and itch.io starting today.

The post Indie embezzlement game Time Bandit releases today on Steam appeared first on Destructoid.

Previously only available on itch.io, Taylor McCue has released their traumatic Game Boy Color art game, He Fucked the Girl Out of Me, on Steam. You can now nab it there for the price of free.

I’ve covered He Fucked the Girl Out of Me a couple of times now, but it was something that burrowed under my skin and has lived there since. Being a semi-autobiographical retelling of a slew of problematic topics such as sex work, getting it on Steam is no small matter. For one thing, it gets lumped in with all the 18+ games that have names like Sex Campus Story. I mean sure, minors should probably not play either one, but one has clearly different goals.

While the game is free, there are a few donation options presented as DLC, which I think is kind of neat. Beyond simple game design, Taylor does quite a bit to help the queer game development community.

Again, however, I’d like to be clear in saying that you should be careful playing He Fucked the Girl Out of Me and definitely pay attention to the content warnings. Not everyone is going to have such a visceral reaction to the subject matter, but some will. I’d hate for someone to think they are just going to be playing a neat Game Boy Color game and walk away with vicarious trauma.

You’ve been warned, but if you still feel like checking out He Fucked the Girl Out of Me, you can get it now on Steam.

The post Trauma art game He F—ed the Girl Out of Me releases on Steam appeared first on Destructoid.

Ludicrously late notice

Apogee, Nightdive, and New Blood have announced that the console version of Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition will be delayed on console. No date has been given for when we can expect the game to hit Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch, but the PC version is still expected to drop on July 31, 2023.

Rise of the Triad was first released back in 1994 for DOS. It was a pretty ballsy move to release a game built on the Wolfenstein 3D engine after Doom took the forefront of first-person shooters in 1993. To be certain, Rise of the Triad really doesn’t stack up to the monolith it was competing against. But whenever I hear stories of its development, it sounds like Tom Hall and his team had fun creating it.

https://youtu.be/vRdZEY6EL5I

That shows in its actual gameplay. What it lacks in fancy technical tricks, it makes up for in its ridiculous design. There are Nazi-esque soldiers begging for their life or playing dead and heat seeking missiles that home in on torches. There are a lot of fun touches that make for a really memorable experience.

This is pure speculation, but I wonder if the delay is due to the inclusion of Return of the Triad. This was a fan-made sequel created in the GZDoom Engine. If they wanted to include it in the console versions, they’d have to either port it into the KEX Engine or run it under GZDoom. I’m not sure how simple that is to do in terms of both development and licensing. It’s a worthwhile inclusion, though, as it’s a fantastic little offshoot.

Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition launches on PC on July 31, 2023. The console versions will follow later this year.

The post Console versions of Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition delayed appeared first on Destructoid.

Obligatory shake shake

When I was a kid, trying out different games for my new-fangled N64, I didn’t know what to make of Mischief Makers. Games like Pilotwings 64 were blowing my mind with their explorable 3D worlds, and here was a completely 2D game that didn’t even use the analog stick. Beyond that, though, its aesthetic was like something I had never seen, and nothing about it made any sense to my young mind. I don’t think I made it far during that rental period.

Then, in college, I had a friend who adored Mischief Makers and gave me an entirely new perspective on the game. It still made no sense to me. It makes no sense to me now. I love the developer, the legendary Treasure, to the Moon and back, but Mischief Makers is one tough piece of meat to chew on.

So, I’ve taken a few bites of this particular slice of ham, and now it’s time to really grind it up. To dig in and get right down to masticating. Someone fetch me my dentures.

[caption id="attachment_393002" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

To punish evil forces, I have been charged

Mischief Makers was released promptly, around one year after the N64’s release. The console got very few sidescrollers throughout its lifespan. Polygons were the new thing developers were toying around with, and 3D was generally what big publishers were pushing their staff towards. So, right from the start, it’s a pretty odd game.

However, what makes Mischief Makers an absolutely unique experience is its aggressive and total lack of cohesion. It’s not a game that picks a direction and charges toward it. Instead, it prefers to just spin in place, faster and faster, until it eventually falls over and calls it a day.

The narrative follows Marina, the Ultra-InterGalactic-Cybot G, and her perverted creator, Professor Theo. They’re on vacation or something on planet Clancer, and then the professor just keeps getting repeatedly kidnapped. There’s some sort of Empire that is oppressing the Clancer people or just driving them to evil. I’m fairly certain that Mischief Makers just makes up the plot as it goes along. One of the first levels introduces a guy who seems like he’s going to be sort of a mentor to Marina in her quest, then several levels later, a character just off-handedly says, “You know that guy? Yeah, he’s dead now.”

It never gets any more coherent. Characters are dropped in out of nowhere, and there’s no sense of flow or progress. It just goes. It just keeps spinning.

[caption id="attachment_393003" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

A hero with shining armor is called

The gameplay is centered around this central mechanic of grabbing things. People, missiles, balls; you grab them all. Sometimes you give it a good shake, causing Marina to emit her trademark “shake shake!” voice sample.

That’s largely it, but Mischief Makers gets a lot of mileage out of that one mechanic. Every boss is generally a game of figuring out what to grab and what to do with it. Sometimes it’s as simple as catching something and throwing it back, but other times it’s more specific. There are puzzles to solve, bombs to throw, and children to capture. The entire game is built up with the philosophy of, “We have this character that does this action. What are all the things we can do with it?”

It’s not really that far out of line with Treasure’s normal philosophy when creating games, but Mischief Makers seems to take it to the extreme. It opens up the game to Treasure’s signature variety. As a whole, the experience is unpredictable. One moment you’re exploring a ball-themed amusement park, and the next you’re defeating a small cat in dodgeball before riding them into battle.

[caption id="attachment_393004" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Though fire, justice is served!

There’s an almost nauseating glut of personality packed within. Beyond “shake shake!” I’ve had the line “Through fire, justice is served!” repeating through my head since first witnessing it in college. The fact that there’s no cohesiveness to the plot opens it to completely off-the-wall dialogue. Mischief Makers has a habit of expressing and introducing bizarre concepts and acting like they’re completely normal and should already be understood by the audience. It’s always hard to keep track of but also consistently funny.

One of the best running jokes that it actually manages to briefly focus on is with the murderous intent of the Beastector. The Emperor will send one out to capture the Professor, but they’ll loudly and dramatically scream their intent to bring Marina to justice. The Beastector, as a whole, are some of the most memorable bosses I’ve encountered in a while.

There’s also this strange sense where the N64’s hardware limitations actually played in Mischief Makers’ favor. The blurry, 2D digitized sprites, the muddy textures, and the muffled sound all create this aesthetic that just underlines the absurdity of everything.

[caption id="attachment_393005" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Help me, Marina!

On the other hand, Mischief Makers isn’t always fun to play. The levels range from considerably sized to over in seconds. The difficulty wavers throughout before skyrocketing directly at the end, like it suddenly realized that it should give the player some resistance.

I went through the entire game without seeing a game over screen until the last run of boss battles. The issue here is that it’s sometimes not clear what you’re supposed to be doing. There was one sub-boss where I could catch their attacks without issue, but once they were in Marina’s shakers, I couldn’t figure out what it wanted me to do. I tried throwing the boss in all directions before eventually finding out that it wanted me to shake it at a very specific moment.

Likewise, there was one boss that you have to steal a weapon from. I thought this was straightforward; you just throw the weapon back at them. However, Mischief Makers is so picky about exactly what moment you hit them. It bounced off with an audible “ting” most of the time, so I thought I was doing something wrong and began experimenting with other things in the environment. Sure enough, I just wasn’t hitting them in the half-second they’re vulnerable. It can get annoying.

[caption id="attachment_393006" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

A ball-grabbing good time

I find that it’s very appropriate to have played Mischief Makers so soon after completing Brave Fencer Musashi. Both games are similar in the fact that they’re not always fun to play, but they are entirely unforgettable.

Mischief Makers is just pure insanity. The way its designed makes it feel like it was just chaotically assembled with no thought for how the final product would appear. I’d like to see a design document for it because I don’t believe anyone, at any point, planned ahead on what this game was actually going to be about.

Yet, in the end, the fact that it’s completely unpredictable and entirely unlike anything you’ve ever seen before is what makes Mischief Makers great. Video game design has always been about trends and iteration, and here is a game that exists entirely outside of both those things. It presents a chaotic vortex of ideas contained within a wobbly framework, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It never got a sequel and probably never will, which is fine, since I don’t think anything else could capture its compelling dissonance.

For other retro titles you may have missed, click right here!

The post Mischief Makers on N64 is a wonderfully chaotic cluster of incohesive concepts appeared first on Destructoid.

Not creepy in the horror sense

Wristwork has revealed their upcoming game about hungrily harvesting data called Faceminer. This is the sort of thing that makes me feel more uncomfortable than actual horror does.

Faceminer is set against the “techno-optimism” of the ‘90s. It puts you in front of a ‘90s-era operating system and has you go to work harvesting people’s biometric data. From there, you have to keep up with regulatory and technological demands as you navigate a corrupt bureaucratic system and continually upgrade your equipment. Buy and sell people’s personal data, just like a real tech company!

https://youtu.be/ntnYoBBsq14

Against the backdrop of white-knuckled multi-tasking, Faceminer sets itself up as a narrative game. You sift through emails and get to know other data scrapers in the business.

Even just with the trailers and information given, Faceminer looks like an evocative reflection of the disgustingly internet-driven world we live in. Information is a commodity, but it’s most valuable in large quantities. Everyone wants it, and everyone is taking it without asking to use or re-sell. It’s the true price of “free” information. You can’t be anonymous and access this data at the same time. I’ve learned to accept this as part of the society we live in, but I still hate it.

Anywho, we’ll see if Faceminer is a fun game or just an insightful one when it gets released, uh, hm… Soon. Eventually?

The post Faceminer is a creepy yet topical game about data harvesting appeared first on Destructoid.

These bikes don't work over water unless you've got POWER!

Akupara Games has announced that they’ll be publishing Videocult’s upcoming lo-fi hoverbike game, Airframe Ultra.

Unless you count all the rust, Airframe Ultra is quite a departure from Videocult’s previous game, Rain World. In this one, you ride around on a hoverbike, winning races and eliminating the competition. While the trailer gives a good long look at the gameplay, both it and the press release I got with it suggest that there’s still much to do in establishing the mechanics of the game. For one thing, you never really see a starting grid or finish line. There’s also combat intermingled with what otherwise looks like racing.

https://youtu.be/KNgKB6TbA_4

It looks like Videocult is focused on getting the feel of the hoverbike right and then working from there. You can really tell how much effort has gone into the animations and physics of the game, as the rider leans and the weight shifts on the bike. It’s also interesting how you can plant your weapon in the ground to enable quick turns.

Really, while a lot is left to be seen in regards to gameplay, what has been shown is enough to get me interested in Airframe Ultra. I used to love Jet-Moto when I was younger, and the hoverbikes remind me of that. Meanwhile, the lo-fi early-3D aesthetic and CRT filter, along with the cyberpunk environments really speak to me. I guess I just love filth.

Another thing missing from the press materials is a release date. Right now, we only know that Airframe Ultra is coming to Steam.

The post Airframe Ultra is a gritty, lo-fi hoverbike game from Rain World devs appeared first on Destructoid.

Looks pretty boss

Lilycore Games has dropped their lesbian boss rush game, Bossgame: The Final Boss Is My Heart today on Steam and itch.io. Previously, it was only available on mobile.

Yes, its aesthetics have some clear Undertale vibes with its minimalistic high-contrast colors. However, it’s pretty unique in its story about broke lesbian partners fighting devils in the streets. Meanwhile, you get to flirt between battles and confront your employer. Sounds real feel-good.

https://youtu.be/EMkf1gLQzLM

Bossgame: The Final Boss Is My Heart is a rhythmic boss rush where the two lovers work together to take down baddies. Between them, you can build up combos, and if one goes down, the other can revive her. The narrative is provided through today’s most fashionable way of socializing: text.

While it doesn’t look like the most extensive or high-concept game, Bossgame: The Final Boss Is My Heart looks like a fun time. As a violent pansexual, I’m always down for indulging my lesbian side, especially in the realm of gaming. It doesn’t come up all that frequently, for some reason. It’s almost like video game relationships, straight or queer, often only exist so someone can die and drive the survivor to a path of revenge. Our action-focused media sure has a strange approach to human romance.

Bossgame: The Final Boss Is My Heart is available today on PC, and can also be found on mobile platforms.

The post Indie boss rush Bossgame: The Final Boss Is My Heart launches today appeared first on Destructoid.

What's with umbrellas this year?

ININ has announced that they’re bringing Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble 3 to PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch consoles this year.

Parasol Stars was the follow-up to Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2. While those two games were released in arcade and ported to consoles, Parasol Stars skipped the first step and went straight to consoles. In North America, we only got the Turbografx-16 version, but in other parts of the world, it also landed on the NES, Game Boy, Amiga, and Atari ST platforms. So, it’s a bit of an obscure title.

https://youtu.be/Fhc73Q7Dkb0

Parasol Stars once again stars brothers Bub and Bob in their rotund human forms. This time, they’re equipped with magical umbrellas and travel from planet to planet, saving them from evil. It’s a pretty odd plot, but it’s not like the series ongoing narrative was ever really that sane.

It’s a bit unclear about what is going to be included beyond a port of the Turbografx/PC-Engine version. That’s exciting in its own right, as it’s a game that has been out of print for decades now. There’s no word on if the NES and Game Boy ports will be included. However, both the press release and trailer coyly suggest another announcement with “More parasols coming.” A full remaster? I don’t know, maybe. You now have all the information I do.

Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble 3 is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch near the end of 2023.

The post Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble 3 is being ported to modern consoles appeared first on Destructoid.

Cram it in your fruit hole

Krillbite Studio, the people behind Among the Sleep and Mosaic, have announced their next game. It’s Fruitbus, and it’s here to fill the massive, truck-sized hole in my heart.

I really need this after the colossal disappointment that was Food Truck Simulator. I’m still not over that. Fruitbus is generally a similar concept, except all your food is vegan, and you serve it to animals. You get to explore an open world in the eponymous food service vehicle and gather ingredients to feed to all the folks.

https://youtu.be/YOK-vXFoDOs

The trailer shows off a wide variety of activities, customization, and faces to stuff with food. Listen, this is going to sound really weird, but seeing that you have to pull the parking brake is really exciting to me. It’s the small touches that connect you to a game’s world, and you should never count out the mundane tactile tasks as an effective way to draw you in.

That’s about all the information we have here. I mean, really, they had me at parking brake. I don’t want to get my hopes up too much about Fruitbus. However, it looks like it ticks a lot of my extremely specific boxes. I was really excited for Food Truck Simulator, but it failed to deliver. Hopefully, what it really needed was some smoothies and the hungry faces of crowds of furries.

Unfortunately, I’ll be waiting until 2024 to play Fruitbus. It’s coming to PC and “consoles.”

The post Fruitbus is a food truck sim that I need right now appeared first on Destructoid.

It's been making tracks

Konami has announced that their 2020 game, Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban, has passed 4 million units sold. What’s important about that? Well, a few things.

Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban has never been released outside of Japan. That’s not entirely surprising, as Momotaro Dentetsu is a long-running series that started back on the Famicom back in 1988. Back then, it was produced by Hudson Soft, but after Hudson went bust, all its assets were bought out by Konami in 2012. However, in all that time, Momotaro Dentetsu has never been localized. Not one game. It has always stayed in Japan.

[caption id="attachment_392615" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Konami[/caption]

Furthermore, 4 million sales in Japan is a crazy number. To put this into perspective, Famitsu reported last month that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has a lifetime sales number of 2,208,705. It’s not quite the numbers of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (5,211,237) or Super Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (5,328,989) and not even close to touching Animal Crossing New Horizons (7,477,507). Still, for a non-first-party Switch exclusive, it’s a rather insane number.

So, does this mean we’ll see it over here? Failing that, will the West get the upcoming Momotaro Dentetsu World: Chikyuu wa Kibou de Mawatteru!? It’s not impossible, but I wouldn’t exactly count on it. The Momotaro Dentetsu games are steeped in Japanese culture. They’re in the style of board games, and are largely about traveling Japan’s legendary rail system to buy up as much of it as possible. It’s sort of like Monopoly but for public transportation.

The point is, I found this very fascinating, and if you’re reading this paragraph, chances are you’ve fallen victim to my eclectic enthusiasm. You’re welcome or I’m sorry. Take your pick.

The post 2020’s Momotaro Dentetsu: Showa, Heisei, Reiwa mo Teiban has sold over 4 million in Japan appeared first on Destructoid.

Shhh. I'm trying to listen.

Namco Bandai has dropped a story trailer for From Software’s upcoming Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. Let’s watch, shall we?

https://youtu.be/Vs2piSWfofQ

Was that really super quiet to you? I had to crank all my volume levers to actually make out what the grim, passionless voice was saying.

In any case, I suppose robots fighting a big tank is a type of story. I’m not sure what it tells me about the overarching narrative of Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. I suppose it conveys all the important information: big robots, skate jets, lots of guns. Then there was a person under a tarp, with a big robot creepily watching them.

While I got my start with Armored Core on PS1, I fell off the series with Armored Core 4 on PS3. I played that game a long time ago, but I vividly remember getting screamed at constantly for leaving the combat area. It’s not like there were laser walls or some kind of marker to inform me where the combat area was. I’d just strafe off to the side, and suddenly someone was threatening to cut all my systems.

Still, I'm interested in playing Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon to make up for the fact that I haven’t played the series since. Hopefully, no one shouts at me in this one. Or, at the very least, I hope someone puts up a sign to tell me where the combat area ends.

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is out on August 25, 2023 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

The post Take a peek at Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon’s narrative in this new trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

My battle against autocorrect begins

Oxeliz has announced that their space colony builder, Quriocity, will be leaving Early Access on July 25. This completes its growth into a full version that began back in October, 2022.

Quriocity places you in the role of a leader of a space colony. Humans have developed faster-than-light travel, and it’s time to put roots down on new planets. More than just advancing and building up your space empire, you need to ensure that your colonists are comfortable this far out from humanity’s cradle. Beyond that, new settlers will be arriving on your space paradise, and you’ll need to be ready to accommodate them.

https://youtu.be/ZKFXhdivf64

The update that is coming with Quriocity’s release is a hefty one. It includes 5 new maps, seasonal and dynamic weather, and 48 unique campaigns. Considering the complaint that I often see leveled at Quriocity’s current state is a lack of content, this will probably be enough to satisfy that hunger. The developers state that this patch is the result of community feedback.

I’ve bounced off a fair few space city builders over the years. I’m not sure I have the time to jump into Quriocity right away, but I’ll have it earmarked to check in the future. I always find that games of this very particular sub-genre have a certain sterility to them. I’m sort of seeing that same problem here, but with the addition of foliage and dynamic weather, it might break the mold.

Quriocity is currently available via Steam Early Access, with the full version dropping on July 25, 2023.

The post Full release of space colony builder Quriocity lands July 25th appeared first on Destructoid.

Empty your pockets

Check your watches, it’s summer! And now it’s time for the PlayStation Summer Sale. It’s your chance to pick up those games that you kind of wanted, but definitely not at full price. The sale ends on August 16th.

Or maybe you just overlooked a title that wound up being a sleeper hit. Now’s a good time to circle back to it and check it out. Like, maybe you’d like to try Destructoid’s 2021 Game of the Year, Chicory: A Colorful Tale. It’s the game that Destructoid’s own Zoey “FIO!” Handley said is “going to make you breakfast and leave you to clean up the mess.” Whatever that means.

Or perhaps you somehow missed out on Destructoid’s 2022 Game of the Year, Elden Ring. This is the game that Destructoid’s own Chris “MARCO!” Carter said was “possibly my favorite From Software game yet.” High praise from our Player 1. I think the sale price is worth it just to check out the hunky Blaidd the Half Wolf.

I’ve got bad news for you, though. None of the Metal Slug games are on sale. Not one. As a way of drying your tears, here’s a handful of games I found while skimming through the sales.

Tactics Ogre: Reborn $29.99
Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition $15.99
LEGO CITY Undercover $5.99
Like a Dragon: Ishin! $38.99
Guilty Gear Strive $29.99
Overcooked! All You Can Eat $17.99
Mafia: Definitive Edition $13.99
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart $29.39
Resident Evil Village $19.99
Red Dead Redemption 2 $19.79
Chicory: A Colorful Tale $13.99
Wanted: Dead $29.99
FATAL FRAME: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse $37.49
Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection $14.99
Elden Ring $41.99
Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium Bundle $19.99

Hopefully, that will keep you from going outside. There are people out there. If that’s not enough, you can check out the full list over here on the PlayStation Store.

The post The PlayStation Summer Sale heats up starting today appeared first on Destructoid.

I'm not crying. It's just been raining on my face

What a blast from the past! Gunbrella comes to us from Doinksoft, who last developed Gato Roboto (if you don’t count Devolver Bootleg). That was the first game I reviewed for Destructoid, back when I was just a shy-but-plucky freelancer bugging Chris “Maximum Ups” Carter for a chance at the big time. For my first time, I did such an adequate job that I was allowed to do it again. Now here I am.

I didn’t love Gato Roboto. I didn’t hate it, either, it just didn’t really have enough substance to it. In that review, I said, “It’s hard to recommend Gato Roboto when we live in a world where games like Cave Story and Iconoclasts exist.” Doinksoft must have taken that to heart (if they read it at all) because Gunbrella has many more shades of Cave Story splashed across its much more substantial body.

[caption id="attachment_392261" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Parabellumsol

Gunbrella is the story of the eponymous firearm-slash-accessory, and also the woodsman who carries it. His wife has been murdered by the very weapon he now carries around, and he thirsts for revenge. Also, his child has been abducted. It’s a real fill-in-the-blanks introduction.

I suppose that’s aside from the fact that a gun also has an umbrella built into it. That’s a new one for me. Not only does it protect you from the rain, it also can block bullets, propel you forward, and allow you to float gently back to earth. Gunbrella’s movement system mostly centers around this one device, and it works pretty well in that role. Given that you have it from the start, and it seems to have all its abilities off the hop, you learn all its functions early and can get around easily.

https://youtu.be/HJR-ZC4WzZA

Rain of bullets

The preview provided to me was a rather large slab of the game. It was certainly more than enough to see what Doinksoft is going for.

While Gunbrella is a gated exploration game where you explore larger and larger chunks of an interconnected world until you can move on to the next area, it doesn’t really fit under the Metroidvania, erm, umbrella. You’re not enabled progress by picking up new skills or items. Rather, you move forward by completing quests. This is one of the senses that it’s similar to Cave Story.

The other similarity is that it has a sense of humor that lays a veil over a general atmosphere of melancholy. There’s a whimsy to Gunbrella’s drab world that seems very human. A warmth among all the hardships that’s admirable.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Gunbrella cut a slit in the back of Cave Story and is attempting to wear it as a new set of pants. It’s just that the two games reach similar high points.

[caption id="attachment_392262" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Puttin the 'fun' in functional

Unfortunately, these high points don’t really translate into boss design. They’re not bad and are visually interesting, but fighting them isn’t always satisfying. It’s the one place where your Gunbrella feels like it lacks impact, and its short range makes it something of a hindrance. There’s nothing egregious about them, they just appear weaker when stood up to the game’s overall strength.

Likewise, the story is an odd mix of strong characters and enjoyable dialogue, and a bunch of stuff we’ve otherwise seen before. If anything, the trite plot does well to give more spotlight to the worldbuilding and characters. It’s also possible that there’s a big twist coming beyond the confines of the preview provided that will make the whole thing pay off. I’m just tired of game wives existing for the sole purpose of dying and driving their men to kill people.

[caption id="attachment_392263" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

The forecast

Overall, though, I was impressed by this serving of Gunbrella. A big part of its success comes from its movement system, but beyond just that, it provides a well-paced narrative with a thoughtful mix of world-building. So, even if the story doesn’t wind up paying off with anything and the gameplay doesn’t gain further depth, it’s still fun to play and avoids being boring.

However, I have faith that Gunbrella still has more handkerchiefs jammed up its sleeve. Even though the preview was a sizeable chunk of tofu, I’d wager that the best is yet to come. For now, I’m going to be looking forward to the chance to wrap my mitts around this powerful fashion accessory again when it launches later this year.

The post Gunbrella is looking pretty waterproof so far appeared first on Destructoid.

Stomp stomp stomp

Microids has announced that Enroad’s adaptation of the classic anime, UFO Robot Grendizer: The Feast of the Wolves, will be released on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC on November 14. A Switch release will follow in 2024.

https://youtu.be/7d241nAsP8I

What a weird trailer. To be honest, UFO Robot Grendizer is one of those classic animes I know of but don’t know anything about. The trailer doesn’t really answer any of those questions. A mean-looking robot stomps around an idyllic countryside, then fights a bunch of robots. Tell me more, press release.

UFO Robot Grendizer: The Feast of the Wolves will follow the first narrative arc of the anime series. It will feature re-orchestrated music from the show “for an even more immersive experience.” Oh gosh, that’s all the press release says.

Shoot Them Up

Okay, the Steam page has more. You play as Umon Daisuke, who pilots the Grendizer, and the rest of this is sort of a word salad. I then did my due diligence and compared this information against the Wikipedia synopsis of the show, and the result is just bonkers. I mean, look at this:

“A new gaming experience is offered to you in multiple game phases: Action/Brawler, 3rd person Shooter, Shoot Them Up and Exploration.”

Ignoring the egregious lack of an Oxford comma, I find the term “Shoot Them Up” to be so quaint. I don’t particularly like the “shoot-em-up” nomenclature (and you’ll never hear me saying “shmup”), but “Shoot Them Up” sounds like something an out-of-touch mother might say to sound cool.

All right, well, what we can glean from this is that UFO Robot Grendizer: The Feast of the Wolves is trying to be true to the show/manga. It looks like it mainly involves exploration and brawling, with Shoot Them Up sections where you pilot the Spazer. Most importantly, however, you get to stomp your big metal boots around an idyllic countryside, and that’s pretty cool.

UFO Robot Grendizer: The Feast of the Wolves will launch on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC on November 14, 2023. The Switch release will come after in 2024.

The post UFO Robot Grendizer: The Feast of the Wolves coming November 14 appeared first on Destructoid.

Totally Studly

I have an affectionate fascination with video games that look fictitious. Whenever a TV show, movie, or even cartoon wants to depict a legally distinct video game for their characters to play, they always show something that looks familiar but is entirely wrong. It’s like the uncanny valley of video games.

It shows a charming unfamiliarity with the medium. However, when it happens in an actual game, you realize that couldn’t be possible. Someone who has to be familiar with other games made this. Looking like an accident was, in fact, an accident.

1990’s Pit-Fighter has an excuse. It was one of the first attempts at using digital images of actors in a video game, a technique that would be made popular by 1992’s Mortal Kombat. There is also an excuse for it being about as much fun as eating a bowl of glass. It was released before Street Fighter II came along and demonstrated how fighting games should be made. On the other hand, I’m not sure what its excuse is for looking like a tournament held at the local neighborhood sex dungeon. Someone in 1990 thought Pit-Fighter looked cool, and they were tragically wrong.

[caption id="attachment_392163" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Awesomely done

Pit-Fighter is about an underground fighting tournament. A tale as old as time. What makes it stand apart is its hairless, baby-oil-slathered protagonists. You’ve got three choices: a kickboxer, a karate guy, and a wrestleman who looks like he pooped himself. They’re macho in the way that bodybuilders are macho. That is to say, not at all, but I wouldn’t say that to their face.

Meanwhile, your enemies are a bunch of leather daddies and one woman who has decided to fight in thigh-high stilettos. The big bad boss is literally this big dude in a leather mask and bondage harness. I’m not one to kink-shame, but I feel that Pit-Fighter must have confused the development of a lot of young teenagers.

You fight your way through 10 rounds. This doesn’t last long, but Atari Games made sure to create it in a way that necessitated pumping in a few quarters throughout its playtime. You only have one health bar for the entire game, so unless you can somehow manage to never get hit, you’re likely going to need to slot a few more coins if you want to give Big Daddy Masochist a spanking at the end.

[caption id="attachment_392165" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Confusingly erotic

A lot of Pit-Fighter's actual mechanical issues are related to the timeframe it was released in. 1990 was pretty early for its digitized graphics. As such, there is absolutely no artistic flow to anything. There are few frames of animation, so there’s a jerky quality to everything. It uses a lot of sprite scaling to make things more dynamic, but it just makes things even more sickly and fake-looking. I never really liked the method of digitizing actors for games, even when it was done well in games like Mortal Kombat, but they had to start somewhere.

The whole product is just so viciously ugly. There are levels where cars are parked in the arena (for some reason), and you can jump on them and crinkle their hood. However, these are very plainly drawn and not digitized pictures, and boy, can you tell. They look like they were ripped from Top Gear and clash against the more realistic crowd and fighters.

Meanwhile, Pit-Fighter was a pre-Street Fighter II fighting game, so fun had yet to be incorporated into the genre. In many ways, it reminds me of 1989’s Street Smart, but somehow even tackier. It’s a three-button setup, and all this oily muscle bashing takes place on a 2.5D area. You can combine buttons to create fancier moves like grabs, but there’s so little reason to do so. It’s extremely difficult to hit an enemy without them immediately hitting you back, and likewise, they have no defense against you. You sort of just chase them around the arena and hope that you deal more damage than you take.

[caption id="attachment_392166" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Leather daddy

And then there’s Mad Miles, who looks like someone who won a bet and forced the developers to put them in. Unlike some of the other beef mountains you fight against, this guy looks like my dad could take him in a fight. I think maybe he’s supposed to make up for that by being kind of crazy, but that never comes across in the game. Instead, he just has a mustache that says, “My ex-wife won custody of the children.” The way he flops on the ground, I kind of feel sorry for him. He also only turns up in one fight, which makes him feel like an accident. Or a secret mode, like when you beat up the car in Final Fight. He’s not threatening, he’s just not welcome in this BDSM dungeon.

Then, once you finally climb a mountain of shaved cattle, you fight the biggest bottom to frequent this particular establishment. Pit-Fighter isn’t the only piece of media to think that wearing nothing but boxers and a leather harness is a sign of toughness, but that is absolutely not what it communicates to me. Especially not when partnered with a leather mask.

If you’re playing multi-player, you have to fight all your teammates to decide who gets to top the competition. I’m not sure why this is necessary, aside from the fact that maybe they didn’t want to palette-swap the leather daddy to make things fair. So the losers of this match pumped in all those quarters and don’t get to end the day as king of the S&M club. That’s a confusing sort of disappointment.

[caption id="attachment_392167" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Brutality bonus

Just to top this whole, writhing container of oiled flesh, Pit-Fighter also has an awful fascination with money. It’s as if Smash T.V. wasn’t exaggerating the depraved depths of human greed. Instead, your fighter gets to stand on a wooden skid as money is piled beneath them. Then at the end, you get the typical view of scantily clad women clinging to your leather beef sack.

Pit-Fighter is just a hilarious and unfortunate amalgam of all the worst parts of ‘80s style. All those embarrassing things that people once thought were cool are stuffed into this game. Because the internet came along and has told us all what those leather harnesses are actually for, Pit-Fighter just looks like a cluster of uncomfortable eroticism.

For previous Weekly Kusoge, check this link!

The post Pit-Fighter sure looks different in the light of an internet-connected word appeared first on Destructoid.

Nowhere to go but up

Ternox has released their ‘80s immersed finance sim, Stonks-9800, today on Early Access.

You’ll probably need a deep breath after groaning and/or sighing at that meme-inspired name. After your lungs reinflate, take a look, because Stonks-9800 is a pretty neat-looking concept.

Economic sims aren’t necessarily a new thing, with the earliest titles dating back to the days of mainframe computers. However, we’ve recently been receiving some interesting new twists, like Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator. Stonks-9800 takes the concept back to Japan’s economic bubble of the 1980s. It’s presented sort of as a menu-driven interactive fiction game where you buy and sell things like real estate and cars. The goal of the game is to improve your own standard of living while also not dying of overwork.

[caption id="attachment_392114" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Ternox[/caption]

Ternox suggests that the game is going for a chill vibe, and while talk of finances tends to trigger my anxiety, I can see what they mean. If nothing else, you can unwind and play Pachinko or bet on horse races.

I think it looks pretty great. I assume the latter half of the name, Stonks-9800, is a reference to the NEC PC-9800, which was a ubiquitous computer throughout the 1980s in Japan. However, I could do without the meme interest. How about “Super Zaibatsu 9800” or “The Death and Return of Wallstreet Kid.” Maybe I’m the uncool one here.

Stonks-9800 is available right now via Steam Early Access. The full release should launch in 2024 and will appear on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch.

The post Financial simulator Stonks-9800 hits Early Access today appeared first on Destructoid.

Decking in the matrix, once again

User wwm0nkey on Resetera has revealed that thanks to a push from fans, Microsoft has revived the matchmaking service on the 2007 Shadowrun shooter on PC and Xbox 360.

The Shadowrun tabletop RPG has seen its share of video game representation over the years, but it hasn’t all been good. The 2007 multi-player shooter is seen as the biggest flop. This is mainly because it has very little to do with the tabletop game and was widely written off before it even hit the market. It didn’t help the PC version that this was when Microsoft was trying to push people to the maligned Windows Vista, and they locked it to that version of the OS and left anyone unwilling to upgrade out in the cold.

Nonetheless, the shooter has always had its fans. According to wwm0nkey, the game was considered dead until about a year ago when it was discovered it was still working. This continued until about a week ago when matchmaking fixes for older Call of Duty matchmaking were pushed out, which inadvertently borked Shadowrun. Fans reached out to Microsoft, who were quick to fix things. Things are apparently back now and faster than ever.

[caption id="attachment_392103" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Microsoft[/caption]

Bring it in, Chummer

wwm0nkey gives props to Adam Isgreen, Jason Ronald, and others on the backward compatibility team at Microsoft for getting things back into ship-shape. Considering that Microsoft probably has little financial incentive to do this, it’s an extremely solid thing to do. High-fives for everyone involved and hugs for anyone who feels comfortable.

Being a fan of the property, I have always been a bit curious about Shadowrun 2007, but I thought the ship had sailed on actually trying it. I’m not much of a multi-player shooter, but I might have to hurry to get some time into this one before I lose my chance entirely. Not sure I'll join the unofficial Discord server. I assume there are people there, and I have social anxiety.

Shadowrun is still available as part of the backward-compatible catalog for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

The post Microsoft revives the 2007 Shadowrun matchmaking service appeared first on Destructoid.

Who hurt you?

Turning beloved children’s characters into horror monsters isn’t something new. I think “nightmarish Alice in Wonderland” has been done roughly a bajillion times. So, My Friendly Neighborhood’s idea of murderous Sesame Street puppets may not seem that novel. Except that’s not what it’s about. I know. It kind of took me by surprise.

I’d also say it’s “My First Resident Evil,” and the argument could be made, but that’s selling the game short. My Friendly Neighborhood wears its inspirations, sure, but it’s more than just a horror game made friendly for a younger audience. Its themes of non-violence, its goofy characters, and its approach to horror all convey much more depth than you — or certainly I — might’ve expected.

[caption id="attachment_391837" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

My Friendly Neighborhood (PC [Reviewed], PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S)
Developer: John Szymanski, Evan Szymanski
Publisher: DreadXP
Released: July 18, 2023 (PC), TBA (Console)
MSRP: TBA

In My Friendly Neighborhood, you play as maintenance professional, Gordon. For the last job of the night, he travels to a derelict television studio to disconnect the transmission tower on the top floor. It has spontaneously started airing a canceled children’s TV show over the normal TV broadcast.

Upon arriving, Gordon doesn't look too surprised to see that the puppets are alive and hungry for deranged hugs. In fact, rather than feeling horrified at his situation, he seems mostly just annoyed and inconvenienced. He just wants to finish the job, go home, and watch TV. The puppets have other ideas.

Your expectations may be that this is a hide-and-seek kind of horror game where you navigate the studio while avoiding confrontations with murderous puppets. That’s not the case. Instead, as I mentioned earlier, it has more in common with Resident Evil. You have weapons that fire deadly letters, and the puppets mostly just inhabit the halls, waiting for you to alert them. You then have the option to take them down with your alphabet or just avoid them and conserve your ammo.

If you choose combat, however, they won’t stay down. They’ll be back up the next time you enter the room. You can make sure they stay down by duct-taping them, but tape is in short supply. In a way, it’s sort of like the Crimson Head zombies in the Resident Evil remake, except you won’t be spared kerosene with a chance headshot.

https://youtu.be/l7XeUD-0f_o

The Neighborhood is coming to town

It’s largely a non-violent affair. The puppets, when hit by projectile letters, react like puppets and make a cute comment as they fall into a heap of inanimate fabric on the floor. When you’re attacked, there’s no real indication that Gordon is suffering any permanent bodily harm. Sometimes he comments that he’s “going to feel that in the morning,” but otherwise, he just sounds annoyed about the unwanted affection he’s being subjected to.

Likewise, the horror aspect feels somewhat understated. There are some attempts at jump scares, and the atmosphere can be a bit spooky, but there’s no grotesque imagery. In the dark, the puppets natter away to themselves about nonsense that might seem goofy to most but merely unsettling otherwise. It’s a good horror experience for younger people or those who can’t handle the gore and danger of typical horror.

With that said, your expectations might be on a low-calorie “Resident Evil,”  but really, My Friendly Neighbor doesn’t pull any punches. I played on normal difficulty, and it still included concepts like limited saving and sparse supplies. There are also multiple unlockable difficulties above Normal and Survival.

I never found any of the puzzles to be taxing, and there are clear signs of it being a smaller production than any big-budget horror, but I never felt like I was playing a lesser product.

[caption id="attachment_391836" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Unwanted affection

Really, though, the non-violent angle has more to do with the game’s overall message. It takes place in a different world, in a city that once waged war against its Northern Neighbor in a parallel to the Vietnam War. There’s a lot about corporate overreach, humankind’s collective obsession with negative media, and the resultant need to dull our pain.

The whole climax of the game is, unfortunately, a bit of a stumble. The last act of My Friendly Neighborhood is visibly less polished than the first parts of the game. Certain parts of the plot aren’t as fleshed out as they should be. There’s a moment right near the end where you can viscerally feel the message of the game, but rather than knock it out of the park, My Friendly Neighborhood chooses to bunt.

I think it would be less disappointing if My Friendly Neighborhood had fewer ambitions and was merely average throughout. Instead, you can absolutely see where it’s going, it’s exciting, and then when it pops instead of booms, it leaves an empty feeling. Agh, my heart.

[caption id="attachment_391838" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

My First Horror

On the whole, however, My Friendly Neighborhood is a terrific experience. It’s designed with a cohesive vision, and aside from a disappointing last act, it largely succeeds in achieving it. It’s the sort of game that gets me more excited as a critic than as a player. I find it difficult not to appreciate all of its layers. It's also about five hours long, which makes meeting deadlines easier.

Where it succeeds best, however, is in being a terrific introductory horror game. Whether or not you’re a youth whose parents disapprove of gore or if you’re just one to hide beneath a blanket when a zombie appears on screen, My Friendly Neighborhood provides the depth of the Resident Evil experience without any of the violence. Not only does it fill an important niche, it proves that this sort of horror game can stand on its own without any of the blood.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: My Friendly Neighborhood appeared first on Destructoid.