Quick Look: The Showdown Effect – with Gameplay Video

I died in about two seconds in my first ranked match of The Showdown Effect as another player transformed me into a knife pincushion.

I lost my second life in a katana duel, stunned by the damage dealt by my enemy and then quickly cut down.

Third time around, I switched to the machine gun I was carrying and dropped from a ledge, right in the middle of another sword-based dual, which allowed me to use my range and firepower to take out both enemies.

These are the kind of experiences that The Showdown Effect delivers, fast-paced, adrenaline-pumping personal duels and long-range weapons fire, all of its sprinkled with quick movement, acrobatic dives and some interesting long strategic choices.

The Showdown Effect is an action-packed multiplayer experience from developer Arrowhead Studio, best known for creating the delightful Magicka, and Paradox Interactive.

The beta that’s currently ongoing allows players to choose between a Showdown mode, which is close to normal deathmatch, and a team-based version.

Players select a character and a load-out, complete with customization options and unlockable items, and then jump straight into an arena to battle with other humans.

Arrowhead Games wisely made both the close quarters weapons and the long-range ones a little overpowered as long as they are used right and I have managed to get as many kills by carefully aiming and picking targets as I did by jumping directly into the fray for hand-to-hand combat.

The Showdown Effect owes quite a lot to 80’s action movies and many of the characters seem to be taken right out of Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, complete with harsh accents and direct references that sometimes border on copyright infringement.

The only criticism of The Showdown Effect I have so far is that it might be a little too fast, forcing the player to move and kill without developing a tactical plan, and the experience might benefit from a little more focus on strategy.

Worth a full Softpedia review? Yes.