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Trailers! Developers and publishers still fire them off like crazy each week, and this roundup gives a home to ones we might otherwise have missed.
We’ve got a n00b mo— sorry, a new mode for Rocket League, a VR exergame, Dwarf Fortress in space, and a sequel 26 years in the making! Well, not literally, but it has been that long since its predecessor. Anyway, commence au trailers!
The Last Campfire
Who: Hello Games
When and Where: This summer, Nintendo Switch, Windows PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Why: It’s Hello Games’ (No Man’s Sky) followup work, first announced in December 2018, and we got a reminder of it during Nintendo’s Indie World showcase on March 17. This trailer offers a longer look at the gameplay involved. Steven Burgess, the game’s lead designer, guides us on a tour of the game’s opening moments. Hello Games is going for a high-touch feel to its exploration and puzzle solving. Anyway, is it just me, or does Ember look like a palette-swapped Journey cosplayer?
Rocket League — Heatseeker Mode
Who: Psyonix, of course.
When and Where: April 16 on all platforms.
Why: Heatseeker mode looks like something that quickens the pace and ramps up the action for Rocket League, particularly those who are new to the game (or just plain bad at it, like me). Every whack on the ball directs it toward the goal, and increases the shot’s speed. So there’s no premium on accuracy, just get your car in front of the thing and hope for the best.
Meeple Station
Who: Vox Games (no relation)
When and Where: Now, on Windows PC. (Its 1.0 launch out of Early Access was on Friday.)
Why: Meeple Station is a space-station base-builder, and its creators at Vox Games cite Dwarf Fortress and Rimworld as its inspirations. “When something goes wrong, it goes really wrong in Meeple Station,” says the game’s official website. Players will have to work hard to keep their Meeple alive, and sometimes work against them, as the Meeps are prone to do stupid things. Pirates and meteor showers provide crises that are a little less passive-aggressive.
Supernatural
Who: Within
When and Where: Coming soon, on Oculus Quest
Why: Well, it’s not like we’re going to the gym any time soon. Supernatural resembles a Beat Saber clone with the goal of toning you up. The exergame’s makers promise “daily personalized full-body workouts and expert coaching from real-world trainers.” Oculus’ blog has a lot more. Supernatural resembles my Red Bull Crashed Ice workout on Kinect 1.0, but looks like it should be a little more effective. I hope so, as Within is asking for a subscription payment, whose “discounted introductory rate” is $20 a month.
Streets of Rage 4
Who: Lizardcube, Guard Crush Games and Dotemu
When and Where: Sometime this year, the full Ginsburg (Switch, PS4, PC and Xbox One)
Why: Pure comfort food, baby. Streets of Rage 4 is also a fully modernized sequel to Sega’s beat-em-up franchise (which last published Streets of Rage 3 in 1994). The standard characters (Alex, Blaze, Adam, Cherry and, uh, Floyd) are five hand-animated fighters, and the alternates include some pixelated throwbacks to bring the total roster to 17. Streets of Rage 4 will also time-warp you back to your dormitory floor (where I played Sega Genesis, at least) with the chiptune soundtrack from Streets of Rage and Streets of Rage 2. Streets of Rage 4 will support four-player co-operative play, where its predecessors only supported two. In its predecessors’ defense, it was 26 frickin’ years ago.