14 DAY TRIAL // The Showdown Effect is a game that draws on old action movie tropes in order to mix action and shooting mechanics with a fast pace and a lot of tactical puzzles.
Emil Englund, the design director at Arrowhead Games, tells VG247, “The Hollywood theme was a result of us wanting to find a framework within which we could do stupidly awesome cliche things and still make it feel like a natural part of the setting.”
The world of action movies has over-the top-violence and heroes with complex sets of moves and weapons, which were easy to translate into a number of characters and mechanics that players could easily understand.
He adds, “The main focus of the game has been to create second-to-second gameplay which allows you to be [expletive] on your own, diving, slashing rolling, shooting and doing backflips.”
Englund believes that, in many ways, The Showdown Effect is similar to Multiplayer Online Battle Arena titles, mainly because of the limited information that a player has and the range of options when it comes to weaponry.
The game masks the majority of the man, forcing gamers to move around in order to learn the location of their enemies, which leads to impromptu battles that often involve more than two players.
Depending on character loadout and on special skill use, a clear target can disappear from sight only to drop down behind its pursuer and quickly take him with hand-to-hand attacks.
Magicka was much praised for its humorous approach to fantasy, and Arrowhead Games also aims for an ironic tone with The Showdown Effect, although the team wants gamers to love the battle experience rather than the irony.
We have a Quick Look at the beta version of the game and we’re planning to deliver a full review in the coming days.