At WellPlayed we love our indies, so getting up at 1am AEST for the second Guerrilla Collective indie showcase was a no-brainer. The Guerilla Collective will be showing off games from various indie developers and publishers, some new and some old. Even a new DLC update to a beloved title that perhaps we weren’t expecting to hear from so soon. We’ve wrapped up part one of the showcase for your reading pleasure below. Let’s see what was shown off.
Anno Mutationem
The first title out of the gate is a super slick sci-fi 2.5D action-platformer in a neon-lit futuristic SE Asian setting. Dodge roll, flip and slice with a familiar lightsaber swish effect, this game evokes the style of an HD Nintendo 3DS Metroidvania. The cinematic camera angles and close-ups switch the character models from crisp to jaggy and are such a neat aesthetic touch. Coming soon to PC and PlayStation.
Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night Shovel Knight Update
For no apparent reason other than a delightfully belated crossover of Indie success stories, Shovel Knight is making the apparently obvious move to pogo over to the neighbouring castle from Bloodstained ROTN. Shovel Knight will be playable within the world of Bloodstained, bringing with them some 8-bit flavoured stages. No release date for the update yet.
The Eternal Cylinder
On an alien world with all kinds of genetic aberrations roaming about, The Eternal Cylinder is filled with creatures from a Spore or No Man’s Sky-like random generator. Your first duty will be to survive by consuming foods that mutate your body to adapt to the environment. The biomes and the creatures in them will puzzle the player, requiring strategic mutations allies to overcome the wild fiends and forces of this strange world. Coming soon to PS4, Xbox One, and the Epic Games Store.
Trifox
This is an isometric hack and slack adventure, with a heroic bipedal fox that can mix and match between three different classes which will lend their different class quirks to your overall combat loadout. So far we see a mage, warrior, and an engineer class. Will there only be these three? Coming in 2022.
AK-XOLOTL
Solo Spanish developer Daniel Piqueras’ debut title oozes the chaotic isometric energy of Nuclear Throne and The Binding of Isaac. Piqueras claims that the game germinated from a bit of banter with mates, a ‘what if’ scenario. The obvious question is asked, “What if an Axolotl with an AK-47”. Going a step further, Piqueras has the audacity to imagine this amphibian with more than an automatic rifle. This axolotl can show off flamethrowers, dual pistols, cute unlockable skins’ and…pretend to be a Koi? This is already shaping up to be a nice new entry in the roguelike isometric shooter genre. No doubt the entirety of this developer’s time awake is spent breathing life into this wholesome carnage, and it looks to be up this writer’s alley. Coming soon to Steam.
Rubi: The Wayward Mira
Rubi: The Wayward Mira is a 16-bit Metroidvania that will be jump dashing sometime soon on Switch, Steam and an unspecified PlayStation platform.
Moroi
Developer Violent Saint is bringing the isometric creeps with a title that seems to be stylistically throwing back to an obscure time in turn-of-the-millennium twin-stick arcade gorefests. The tone treads between unnerving and jarring. Metal music plays while a bucket-headed main character spins in all directions, unleashing volleys of minigun fire. Edgy, gothic, dark, this game sits on a specific spectrum but I couldn’t quite pin the theme.
Source Of Madness
Source of Madness is a 2D action platformer coming to Steam by Carry Castle and Thunderful Publishing. The visuals standout for being animated like paper marionettes, with the freakily orchestrated movement that was so effectively off-kilter in Limbo.
Industria
“A mystery first person shooter.” Drawing on parallel dimension sci-fi tropes, Industria sets up a tantalisingly nondescript thread of discovery and exploration as we are tasked with tracking down our “work colleague”. It is unclear what kind of work we are in, but developer Bleakmill tells us that this game is inspired by Half-Life 2 and Bioshock, so I’m inclined to wonder if we’re going to see some parallels with Gordon Freeman’s reality-altering exploits. Coming Q3 2021.
Chernobylite
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. ‘s atmospheric and malevolent rendition of the ‘Zone’ has tipped its sci-fi scales into Singularity’s dimension tearing narrative with Chernobylite. A mysterious and thrilling trailer shows us a Chernobyl which appears to have had a touch of the ol’ time and space anomaly. In between the well-edited shots of the world and its deformed time/space mutants, we glimpse a first-person shooter with stealth and survival elements. I wasn’t sold on Chernobylite previously, but I absolutely am now. Best schedule a couple of winter weekends in, as it is releasing in July on PS4, Xbox One, Steam, GoG, and Epic Game Store.
Ultra Age
Kick-ass hack and slash is what we want, baby. Ultra Age is a frankly impressive-looking acrobatic combo slasher, with plenty of loot, rocking tunes, and flashy effects. If you enjoyed Nier or Devil May Cry, this may get your attention. Coming Q4 2021.
El Paso, Elsewhere
Bullet-time is back in its purest form. I did not expect to see a homage to the original Max Payne in 2021, but as one of my favourite shooter series, I welcome this bold effort. By absolutely cranking the Keanu-Fu (John Woo-Fu?) to the max, El Paso Elsewhere is a stylistic third-person shooter throwback to early 2000 with an occult flavour. Nightmare creatures from all walks make for the one hell of a ‘love story’, or so the narrator would have us believe.
Run Die Run Again
A series of futuristic sci-fi obstacle courses that players must navigate in first person, against the clock with enemies looking to block your path. The beats are banging in this trailer, and we’re told to expect more in the full game.
The showcase closed out with a sizzle reel that included gameplay and scene from:
- Kena Bridge of Spirits
- Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield
- Nour: Play With Your Food (???)
- Super Space Club
- Kindfolx
- Grid Force: Mask Of The Goddess
- Onsen Master
- An Airport For Aliens Currently Run By Dogs
- Protodroid Delta
- And more
Maybe we shall see some more of these titles from June 10 in the Summer Games Fest. Have any of these titles been on your radar previously? A favourite Metroidvania perhaps? Let us know in the comments. Otherwise, check out the full showcase below:
