Guard Crush , the developer behindStreets of Rage 4 , announced its next secret plan . Rather than hark back to a familiar franchise , the studio is creating an original deed calledAbsolumalongside Dotemu and Supamonk . It ’s aco - op , fantasy beat - em quad - up that infuse an one-time musical genre withroguelike progression hooks .
Ahead of its reveal , I got my feet wet in a fewAbsolumruns across a 90 minute academic session . It took me a few tries to fully savvy the compass of what Guard Crush is appear to fulfil , but I ’m already commence to see the full movie . Absolumfeels like a well-chosen middle ground between a classical measure - em - up and a more modern natural process secret plan , finding crossover between the two that compliment one another . It ’s the accurate kind of original follow - up I need to see from a studio after proving itself with a familiar IP .
A new kind of beat-em-up
Like a stack of 2D brawler ( include Dotemu hits likeTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles : Shredder ’s Revenge),Absolumlooks somewhat straightforward at a surface glance . When it begins , I ’m walk from left to right and stopping to pommel fiend with my clenched fist and sword . It ’s forthwith recognizable as a game make by the studio behindStreets of passion 4thanks to its demonstrative prowess style that makes it look like a playable comic book and its corpulent attack . I ’m chain together combos in a matter of no time — at least until I ’m meet with an unexpectedly speedy death .
That ’s whereAbsolumactually start to toy its deal . The true game is a form of fusion between a typical beat - em - up and a roguelike , though it took me a few attempt to understand where those two idea intersect . After mill around around a hub , I pose out on my first proper runnel . My move set is fairly basic , with two even attacks and a special that squander mana . There ’s more refinement than that , as I learn throughout my 90 minute . Being relentless enough with my biff lets me break an opposition ’s guard and keep an eye on up with punish wrong . It ’s almost a bit like a 2D fighting secret plan in that sense .
I brawl my way of life through screens just as before , this time avoiding monsters who have mounted elephantine boar and are try out to charge me ( I can steal their climb and do the same to them , though ) . When I clear a fight , I ’m given some form of run - specific raise . My first one bring fire damage to my attacks . Other screens repay me with upgrade materials .
Once I die again , the patterned advance closed circuit kicking in . My character grade up and I receive a prosperous insect of some variety . I take that to a nearby NPC , where I can spend that resource to unlock a different special attack for my hero . That ’s not all . I ’ve also pile up a lot of stones during my run , which I can spend for permanent upgrades like health boosts . I only have six choice at first , but a fresh skill Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree unlocks once I ’ve bought enough . After some more spending later on , I finally get a revival power that ’ll wreak me back from death once . As you might look , each subsequent ladder permit me to get a little further as a result .
There are progression layers further threaded into the ravel itself . Sometimes I get far enough that I unlock a new power , adding it to my pool of selection . When I take on a shopkeeper and buy a passive relic that boost my defense team , he puts a stamp on a loyalty card . There ’s clear some kind of reward I ’ll get once I fill up that card out , give me a upright reason to spend with him on each run . There are even some quests patter in , too . In one attempt , I guide a ghostly fellow to a subject field hidden in the background of one floor . I even dilate my moveset once I kill my first chief , give way one of my eccentric a throw tone-beginning . There are sight of ways for me to grow even in a go run , just like the literary genre ’s best .
WhereAbsolumdiffers from reliable roguelikes , though , is that the tally itself is n’t random . There ’s no adjective generation or much noise beyond what foeman might attack . I ’m always propel through the same set of screens , guiding me from a path through a river into a castle . It feels a short too unchanging at first , as if Guard Crush is just endeavor to extend the distance of your average two hour beat - em - up . But then come a breakthrough . On one projection screen , I realize that there ’s actually another path I can take the air on subtly nest in the background . I walk up there , and I ’m on the spur of the moment walking an alternative path . One run might have me charge through the castle ’s front gate and campaign through its dining room . Another sends me in through its bottom where I ’m fighting mushrooms between mine carts . Each time I detect a new road , it ’s bring to my map .
By the end of my session , I have a much better grasp on the full gameplay loop . Go on a run , die , buy upgrades , and experiment with a new course next prison term . It ’s still a traditional cadence - mutton quad - up at its heart , but it ’s one that defecate commence from scratch experience worthwhile each time . You ’re not just dropping another after part in the arcade machine and praying that something different happens this prison term .
I ’m curious to see how much profoundness that idea has long - terminus . I delight my first 90 minutes , but I ’m unsure if there are enough paths to keep a full run that I ’ll need to play back several more times to in full beat . There ’s still some work to do to make its fighting feel a fleck more natural too , as it has the classic pulsation - em - up problem where I ’m sometimes unable to describe myself up with an enemy by rights . There ’s still some quad for tweaking , but the essence theme feels like a chic evolution of what Guard Crush accomplished withStreets of Rage 4 . It feels like it ’ll especially sing in carbon monoxide - op , too .
The estimable compliment I can giveAbsolumis that I wish I could do one more head for the hills when my session terminate . I was one power boost aside from taking down the boss of its first humans , and I knew I ’d get it next clock time . That ’s on the button the kind of chemical reaction you want from a secret plan like this .
Absolumlaunches later this class for PS4 , PS5 , Nintendo Switch , and PC .
