Sony has long had a gaping, Killzone-sized hole in its roster of PlayStation exclusive titles. This has left it shuffling behind arch-rival Microsoft, a company thatās always seemed to have a finger of the dudebroās pulse when it comes to figuring out what people want from their shooters: Halo, Gears of War, Titanfall.
If a new mesmerizing-looking shooter Sony revealed today for the PlayStation 4 is any indication, the company is sticking with its indie-friendly route rather than trying to lock horns with the titan. I mean, the company has already made plans to bring a number of quirky shooters like Jamestown, PixelJunk Shooter, and Velocity 2X to the system alongside heavyweights like Destiny and the new Wolfenstein. And now its stepping even further off the beaten path with an exclusive first-person shooter called VizionEck in which you play asā¦a cube?
Hereās VizionEck founder Michael Armbrust on the cube, named Ranger:
Heās pretty simplistic in design, isnāt he? VizionEckās art-style is focused on being clean and elegant. We really love the prospect of making a game thatās mathematically āexact.ā Almost everything follows a strict set of rules. The resulting world feels extremely harmonious 99% of the time.
It also creates a great environment for the gameplay. One example of this is how VizionEckās health system works. As a Ranger, your health is displayed as the brightness of your outlines. Solid white and youāre as healthy as an ox. Almost black and youāre on the brink of destruction. Even the smallest enemy shot would mark your end.
This actually has its advantages. The less health you have, the harder it is for enemies to see your outlines. Positioning yourself over a large black surface makes your cube practically invisible. Sneaking up on another player becomes easy.
The gameās announcement trailer doesnāt do much to show how this gameplay works in action. And at face value, VizionEck looks like it could have just been pulled from Alexander Bruceās cutting room floor after he was done making that glorious headtrip Antichamber.
But hey: anything to break up the monotony, right? As Kotakuās very own Mark Serrells asked this week: arenāt we getting āa little tired of shooting things in the face?ā
I know I am. So why not try cubes instead?
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