I had the opportunity to take an early, extended look at the game with Rebellion’s head of creative, Tim Jones, and another member of the media. The session wasn’t the full four-player experience, but I came away knowing one thing for certain: When it was time for the demo to stop, I was ready for more monster-mowing. Before properly tackling the game with my trusty teammates, I was thrust into a single-player campaign mission called “Harbin’s Dig Site” to get a feel for the controls and fall into the flow of gameplay. The game is quite pretty, with a stylized cartoon aesthetic that isn’t at all kiddish but still communicates that the game doesn’t take itself so seriously. The stage’s ancient ruins and dig site scaffolding are detailed and varied, and the game’s lighting effects make the sunbaked world’s nooks and crannies pop. The fantastical ‘30s milieu is reinforced constantly by the narrator (Glen McCready), whose flowery commentary echoes the bold British charm of old serials like The Lost Horizon and The Lost City. Combat and movement are smooth and will feel natural to those familiar with third-person shooters, and the variety of tasks you’re presented with are pretty simple. Shoot baddies, solve puzzles (some optional), scoop up treasure, repeat. But what’s unique about the combat is the way the environment can play into your strategy. There are deadly traps strewn across most areas (spinning blades, swinging blades, exploding barrels, and the oh-so-classic ground spikes), which when activated at the right moment can cause a brutal chain reaction that obliterates several foes at once. You need to watch your step as well, and luckily Rebellion has outfitted players with a roll button, which got me out of many a sticky situation. Speaking of traps, Jones then launched us into Score Attack mode, which plops you into an arena even more dense with death toys than the campaign stages and sends swarms of enemies at you and your crew. We never quite hit our stride here (there was an uncomfortable stretch of time when there were no enemies in sight and me and my fellow journalist felt a bit clueless as to what to do next), but that very well may be chocked up to our lack of experience with the game. The final mode shown was Horde Mode, which is just what you’d expect from a game of Strange Brigade’s ilk. A flood of mummies and monsters descends on you and your teammates, and if you can survive the attack, you’re afforded a break to purchase weapons and upgrades with gold you’ve collected from your fallen foes, and then the levee breaks again. This mode was great fun, and like I said, when the demo came to an end, my trigger finger was still mighty itchy. Read the Den of Geek Special Edition Magazine here!
