Published , by Steve Tyminski
Published , by Steve Tyminski
Tiny Build, the folks that always have elaborate Pax East booths were at it again this year with a carnival theme, complete with carnival games and booths with demo stations inside. If you like carnival games, then this booth was made for you!
First up on in the carnival tent was getting some hands on time with Mayhem in Single Valley, a complete u-turn from the feel of the carnival. Mutated animals are taking over the town and it’s up to you to save the day. During the demo, you lost your backpack and have to retrieve it. However, you die the minute one of these mutated animals touches you. Luckily you’re able to distract them with food like nuts for the squirrels/carrots for rabbits to get them to move out of the way. Be warned though as they eat fast and enemy animals can come from any direction, like fish in the water. It isn’t all just running and throwing food, as there are puzzles that you have to solve as well as items to find, like a key to open construction equipment for example.
You’re bound to get your heavy lifting in while playing Totally Reliable Delivery Service. You’re a part of a delivery company that gets assigned jobs to do like deliver packages to nearby locations. However, the fun part is how you can control your mover, with each shoulder button on the controller and joystick controlling a different motion. From raising arms to lifting packages, you’ll have to use your whole brain to figure out these moves. You can also drive a golf cart but it controls the same way as lifting a package. I’m happy to report, I only flipped over once!
Rawmen, the food-fighting fight was up next and it reminded me a lot of Overwatch. You’re able to throw soup to attack enemies as well as use it to fast travel around by sliding on it. It’s a team shooter where you try to accomplish a goal as a team, similar to Overwatch. There are several modes that range from putting a meatball into a goal and scoring points for getting to an area with a pot. You’ll have to be on your toes as an attacking enemy could sneak up on you at any minute. Since it’s a team shooter, it’s going to have the same issue as most do, balanced matches. This probably won't be rectified until it's released and people have had time with it.
The last game I got to see was hyped as a Dark Souls-type game, Hellpoint. It did feel like I was playing another game in the Dark Souls franchise, only with what appears to be robotic characters, similar to the Terminator. You play as a Spawn, a soulless mechanically printed slave forced to particpate in experiments. There’s a stamina bar and stamina works just it does in Dark Souls. The same could be said about your health meter. I didn’t come across anything that resembled a bonfire so no checkpoints. There is a lock-on command so when you attack, you can actually hit your opponent and not just flail around. I eventually made it a boss fight, which lasted about two seconds. It was a large demonic figure that used a fire-like attack to finish me off quickly. If that doesn’t sound like a Dark Souls game, I don’t know what does. It didn’t feel as tough as Dark Souls right off the bat but that boss fight did a number on me.
Tiny Build is always the talk of Pax East with their booth designs. This year was no different and they had a plethora of good games to back it up!
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