Metroidvania game Outbuddies will launch for PC via Steam on October 15, followed by PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch in Q1 2020, publisher Headup Games and developer Julian Laufer announced.
In a blog post, Julian Laufer shared new information on the game’s combat mechanics and weapons systems:
Outbuddies uses ranged weapons and classic 4-way shooting, which was chosen by intention and forces the player to directly engage all types of foes. Poisonous bugs and spiky crawlers inflict contact damage while bigger enemies can be passed-by and use both ranged and melee-type attacks to kick your ass.
All types of hazards can be dodged by steam-rolling and a late-game upgrade, the Spin Blade, even allows to harm enemies by dodging them. All four up-gradable weapon systems also function as a selective tools and there are two weapon slots available, that can be equipped in parallel to create some interesting mix-ups. All four weapons and their functions at a glance:
- The Seahorse Revolver: Your standard plasma gun and best friend. Unleashes a powerful vaporizing beam when charged-up. Has a high fire rate and good damage output.
- The Missile Launcher: Your best choice when facing heavy duty like boss encounters or multiple tanky enemies at once. They can even break stones, but your storage is very limited and has to be upgraded by searching for missile tanks.
- The Bubble Beam: A tactical weapon that fires organic ooze that can immobilize enemies and turn them into a suitable platform to step on. When charged, immobilizing clusters will spread to stun whole groups of foes.
- The Corridium Galvanizer: Energizes wall structures and can re-power shut-down facilities. When charged it unleashes a powerful dash that can connect to a spider-ball like wall run and enables you to reach every corner of Bahlam.
Movement in Outbuddies is very fast-paced, like also seen in Hollow Knight or Dead Cells. Controls are also tight, allowing for split-second decisions and various cancels to survive heated combat situations. To spice things up, I’ve implemented a (mostly optional) stealth system, so large enemy groups and security systems can be sneaked-by.
Your droid Buddy is equipped with telekinetic abilities to use the environment against your enemies and collect-able hacking protocols enable Buddy to even modify enemy behavior to your advantage.
Here is an overview of the game itself, via its Steam page:
About
Enter Bahlam, a sunken city of the Old Gods, located deep in the South Atlantic Ocean. Following a shipwreck, adventurer and maritime archaeologist Nikolay Bernstein regains consciousness 36.000 feet under the sea. He’s severely wounded and unwillingly connected to a supernatural Buddy-unit. Searching for answers about his displacement our main protagonist digs deep into the lost undercity, gradually realizing an ominous presence hollowing in its shadowed caverns.
Meet the Wozan
On your journey home you will share your fate with a friendly tribe of mining creatures, the Wozan, who fear the Old Gods and strive to get back to the surface since their ancestors had been enslaved 5000 years ago. Some of them were able to flee and founded secret colonies deep inside the sunken ruins, others are still exploited by the hostile creatures that have overtaken the city since the Old Gods suddenly disappeared.
Open World
Experience real non-linear Metroidvania gameplay and uncover five distinct areas, all with remarkable puzzles, environmental hazards, epic boss encounters and captured Wozan to uncage. Your Buddy unit will procedurally map the area and function as a handy quality of life tool that can be controlled at will to manipulate your surroundings using various abilities like hacking, scanning, and telekinesis.
Mech and Skill
Explore Bahlam with high freedom of movement like climbing, crawling and diving right from the start. As you progress your set of options will expand by discovering ancient weapon systems, suit upgrades and hacking protocols for your droid. All gear will be carefully balanced in terms of combat abilities and has to be used selectively to overcome specific hazards and puzzles.
Local Co-op
The local co-op option invites a second player to explore and experience this adventure together by taking control over the invincible Buddy unit. Support each other on your journey home, solve puzzles and overcome Bahlam’s hostile maze. This will also provide an opportunity for team-speedrunning as a very unique take on the scene.
High QA Standards
Outbuddies is a humble budget project but that does not mean it will run poorly or lack the quality of life features. All pixel art will scale crisp and free of distortion artifacts to your native screen resolution. The game runs at 60 frames per second. A hybrid physics engine ensures realistic accelerations and object movements while maintaining the pixel perfect control of the old classics. Enemy and boss AIs are carefully crafted and will kick your ass in a Souls-like manner! Outbuddies also supports various mappable devices like keyboard, mouse and multiple gamepads to ensure you´re able to play with your preferred setup. We listen to feedback, so shoot us a mail anytime!
Key Features
- Explore an open vibrant fantasy world.
- Real Metroidvania gameplay with lots of gear, puzzles and Easter eggs.
- Unique dual-hero scheme with local co-op support.
- Epic boss battles and believable enemy AIs.
- Intriguing narrative and memorable characters.
- High freedom of movement at 60 frames per second.
- Handcrafted pixel art with distortion-free scaling to your native display resolution.
- Support for various input devices & key rebinding.
- Original soundtrack by OGRE music.
Inspired by the Following Games
- Super Metroid
- Castlevania
- Super Mario Bros.
- Mega Man
- Axiom Verge
- Hollow Knight
Watch a trailer below.
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