By Nathan Grayson on July 24th, 2012 at 10:00 am.
Hey, remember that one game with all those snazzy guns and that Gordon Freeman guy? You know, Shoot Many Robots? Well, it’s headed in a rather unexpected new direction. After beginning life as a (relatively cheap) purchasable product, it’s now launching a fully standalone free-to-play PVP extension. Titled “Arena Kings,” it comes with the most uncharacteristically no-frills description ever: “Arena Kings is a PvP shooter set in the same world as Shoot Many Robots.” In truth, though, it sounds like Demiurge is dedicated to making this far more than a many-robot-shooting shot in the dark.
Arena Kings is set to launch with a mode called Royal Flush, which… well, just read this: “In ‘Royal Flush’ the Kings must murder each other to collect their crowns, and flush them down a teleporting golden toilet, naturally.” Errr, OK. But wait, here’s the interesting part: “New content and updates are being added to the game weekly, based on feedback received directly from players. Don’t just stay tuned to see what happens next – be a part of it!”
So it sounds impressively player-driven, though I’ve sent a mail asking whether that’s a beta-only policy or something along the lines of, say, TF2 – i.e. continually making thunderous evolutionary strides over the course of its entire lifetime. That latter, of course, could lead to a wildly different game than the one Demiurge started with, which is – regardless of whether or not you like the outcome – one of the most exciting superpowers at PC gaming’s disposal these days, I think.
If you’re interested, you can sign up for the beta here. Admittedly, I never played the original Shoot Many Robots, but I definitely plan to keep an eye on this one. I’ve played a million arcade-style side-scrolling co-op blast-a-thons before, but I can definitely get behind the idea of a competitive F2P spin on that formula. And, of course, the growth possibilities are quite intriguing. Perhaps we’ll even eventually be able to engage in a wider range of activities – for instance, Having Afternoon Tea With Many Robots or Criticizing The State Of Post-Colonial Literature With Many Robots. Or maybe we’ll just get more guns. But I’m brushing up on my Joseph Conrad just in case.
24/07/2012 at 10:12 magnus says:
Shoot Many Robots was fine until the lack of gamepad support ruined my chances of beating the last boss. If this has those issues then I’m out.
24/07/2012 at 15:29 ap0k41yp5 says:
Arena Kings has gamepad support, unlike Shoot Many Robots.
24/07/2012 at 10:12 Gnoupi says:
I have no idea how they will balance that, though. Because currently, your level and money determines your damage output by a large margin. So unless they force one set of weapons in the PvP, it will be a problem.
Edit: Ok, stand-alone F2P, I read badly. Well, it probably still applies.
24/07/2012 at 10:21 scorcher24 says:
Last time I checked a sign in to the game was only possible via Facebook.
Nah, I am good.
And it also pay to win, according to friends that played it a bit.
24/07/2012 at 11:01 MeestaNob says:
If the game (like my copy) refuses to allow starting without FB integration via their rubbish log in thing, you can go to the executables properties in Steam and put ‘-no_duckduck’ and that will allow the game to work. Steam achievements still work too.
Was sorely tempted to ask for a refund, I had no idea that junk would be attached.
24/07/2012 at 12:03 Heliocentric says:
You can also turn it off in a menu, it does feel like a betrayal, good thing it is fun to play.
24/07/2012 at 12:24 MeestaNob says:
I had to do the command thing to get into the game to disable it as the web pop up didn’t work. :/
24/07/2012 at 13:38 The Random One says:
Dear world, please stop assuming I have a Facebook account. I don’t. I have no intention of having one. I like Google + and even that I barely use. Love, The Random One.
24/07/2012 at 10:55 Heliocentric says:
I’m still sore this game doesn’t support multiple controllers for local coop. Please someone tell me I’m being stupid and its possible.
24/07/2012 at 11:19 Gnoupi says:
They don’t support gamepads at all, so that should answer your doubt.
24/07/2012 at 11:27 Heliocentric says:
Ugh… Thats so stupid.
24/07/2012 at 13:23 wccrawford says:
I was a little put off by the lack of controller support on the PC, but my friend and I have played dozens of hours of it now, and the controls are good.
I’m not sure I want PvP combat from it, but the original game was well worth the money.
24/07/2012 at 13:33 Kestilla says:
Not sure how well this will do considering the free and excellent Soldat has been out forever and doesn’t clog the screen with stacks of crowns.
24/07/2012 at 13:43 Mordsung says:
If you combine the Paper Bag helmet with a Shotgun you stop having a weapon and you get more of a 180 degree frontal pulsing bullet shield.