Published , by Blake Morse
Published , by Blake Morse
Usually when you think of the superhero archetype it will elicit images of caped crusaders leaping across rooftops to save everyday citizens from disasters both big and small. However, in recent years, the anti-hero has become more popular than ever. Just look at what James Gunn has done with The Suicide Squad film and Peacemaker TV show in the last year or so. And Amazon Prime’s The Boys series has definitely taken some brutal blows at the superhero mythos.
Now, the devs at Stitch Heads are partnering with indie publisher powerhouse Raw Fury to bring the anti-hero aesthetic to the action RPG genre with Superfuse. I was lucky enough to get a brief taste of what Superfuse is bringing to the table at a recent hands-on event during GDC.
The world of Superfuse is one in which humanity has spread amongst the cosmos. The rich ruling class elite have altered their genetics to essentially make themselves living gods and left the rest of humanity to rot. Now, a new threat to the aristocratic ruling class has emerged throughout the galaxy that’s known simply as the Corruption. In order to maintain their opulent lifestyles, the elites create their own superhero protectors that they call Enforcers.
Players will assume the role of one of five different classes of Enforcer as they patrol the galaxy taking on mutants and alien beings all in the name of protecting the richest of the rich. Gameplay all happens from that classic isometric perspective we’ve come to associate with the action RPG games like Diablo. Players will point and click as they hack and slash their way through blob creatures, aliens, mutants and more. Not only will they collect all sorts of weapons, armor and loot along the way, they’ll also amass various abilities from their skill trees as they progress.
While Superfuse may only have the five classes to choose from, players will definitely have plenty of options for making their character their own special and unique killing machine. A lot of that will have to do with the powers they choose to unlock and the weapons they use, but there looks to be a deeper level of customization from there in Superfuse. Because along with action RPG staple features, Superfuse will allow players to go even further by augmenting them with custom features of their own.
During my hands-on time, I was basically given limitless tokens to augment everything and I was able to come up with some pretty insane overpowered stuff. The token slot layouts are different for everything you augment but the concept is basically the same. First you choose the context that triggers the augment; like does it happen when you kill an enemy, just when they’re hit, or when you instigate the attack? Next, you can choose what effect that initiates such as elemental damage, a ricochet shot, or multiple shots in various directions. These effects can also be stacked and you can even unlock special buffs by augmenting the right features. It basically creates an endless combination of augments that should be able to cater to anyone’s playing style. I personally ended up making a hammer slam attack that shot lightning waves out in every direction, basically melting everything in my path.
Visually, Superfuse is like a living comic book with a vibrant, cel-shaded color palette that has some very synthwave neon purples and blues to contrast against the drabber grays and browns of dystopian future space cities. The cel-shading lends everything an almost Borderlands-like aesthetic that pairs well with the superhero theme of the game.
I’ve always been a sci-fi kid – more interested in blasting aliens with lasers than shooting dragons with arrows – and I’ve often wondered why no one has tried to make a more futuristic version of Diablo. Now I’m starting to think that Stitch Heads has been reading my dream journal this whole time. I also think it’s an interesting choice to make the characters you’ll be playing as more like Homelander than Superman. While my glimpse of Superfuse was brief it left a solid impression on me that has me excited to see what the future holds for the final version of the game. While it may be a while until we see the full scope of Superfuse, interested parties do have an early access release to look forward to sometime in 2022. However, there’s no solid release date for the final build at this time.