Heading into EGX Rezzed, we had high hopes and a list of games we couldn’t wait to play. We ticked most of these off during the weekend-long event. All of the titles lived up to their hype, but we also found a treasure trove of hidden gems we weren’t even expecting. Make sure to check out our roundup of Indie developers’ games that you have to try for yourself. Out of all the games that we played (and it was a lot), three clear standouts made us never want to leave their booth, no matter how sad the kid next in line looked.
3. Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption.
Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption is a small title with significant potential. Its development team includes AAA veterans including a former senior programmer at Konami, art director at Ubisoft and technical artist at Blizzard. Taking the ever-popular super hard grinding style a la Dark Souls, it pits you against seven bosses that represent the seven deadly sins in your journey to redemption.
The unique thing about Sinner is that it only has bosses. Ignoring the lower class peons speeds up play with every death spawning you right back into the fight. Taking away the grinding through grunts to get to the final boss removes all the sting of repeatedly dying without taking away the accomplishment of winning. And you will die. You will die in many varying ways. Our favourite was being eaten by the grotesque belly of the gluttony boss.
The player can choose to fight the seven bosses in any order but receives a debuff after each victory always making the next fight harder. Two main weapons give you fast and heavy fighting styles with additional items that you’ll need to master using to win. The game looks as creepy as it is beautiful with its surrealistic environments inhabited with unusual beasties.
2. Grip
Grip is the spiritual successor to the 90s hit racer Rollcage. Born out of the love of the game from one man whose hacked windows version of the original just wasn’t enough. Utilising a very hacked Unreal engine Grip delivers on insane physics mechanics realistically portraying what a 700kph vehicle would do if it were driven through a tunnel by a person with absolutely no fear.
We tried out the split screen racing and while the first few races were completely overwhelming and confusing, once we got the hang of looking 100 miles into the distance to spot the corners we were golden. The game is a real test of skill as any crash will take you from lightspeed to either standing still or shooting you into the sun. This can be a bit annoying, but boost and forgiving AI mean that even with the worst crash, you are never out of the game. The power-up system adds to this well to even the playing field with attacking and defensive upgrades in what feels like a cross between Mario-Kart and Wipeout.
Added to the extreme racing are a few minor modes to expand gameplay. There are a variety of different spec cars to mod with visual aspects. Everyone is sure to remember you when you beat them in a hot pink battering ram. The developers have also realised that attaching your car to any surface with pure G-force is so satisfying that they’ve added a “carkour” mode where you do nothing but that. The object is to get to the end of a gravity-defying track without falling to your untimely demise.
1. Earthfall
Earthfall takes a lot of influence from titles like Left 4 Dead, and they are the first people to admit this. Taking a game style they love, four player co-op, they have added tower defence and easy weapon selection to improve it. The Holospark crew at EGX Rezzed were kind enough to hook up two computers so that we could try out their co-op masterpiece in all its glory.
Jumping straight into the action we were faced with a barrage of impeding aliens storming towards us. The foes we faced ranged from single-shot head popping drones to all-out tanks. This variance in enemies forces you to change up your play style and rely on one another to make it through the fight. A pistol or melee weapon works wonders for a lone straggler, but when the horde starts coming and your partner is carried off with their head in an alien’s mouth, it’s time to nut up or shut up with a machine gun or even bigger!
These wave attacks often happen next to 3D printers that print guns meaning you’re never struggling to find an appropriate weapon and can pick and chose for different playthroughs. You are also given the added protection of barricades or sentry defences seamlessly combining survival, action, and strategy in an effortlessly simple way. Block off a door to change the flow of incoming enemies or put a turret at the top of some stairs create a kill zone.
As well as the 3D printers, various weapons are scattered around the map to off your adversaries with. During our quick play through, we found weapons ranging from a machete to a flamethrower and while there is no official PvP mode (because you’re supposed to be co-operating!) we found that the quickest way to lose a match is by having an impromptu flamethrower vs machete battle in the middle of a boss fight. The game comes with two story modes and includes single player, but you really can create your own fun playing with friends.