Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Astronaut shooter Shattered Horizon will get a (free) four-map expansion in the near future. Testing on the new maps will begin soon, which is a good thing, as interesting space-levels are one of the best things about the game. “Selected players will help us test the new Moonrise levels from a very early stage,” says design lead Antti Summala, who we interviewed last month. “Level design for zero gravity combat is a big challenge and we are looking forward to having real players help us create new experiences that cannot be found in other FPS games.” The game is out now, and can be bought directly from the Shattered Horizon site. Check out my Eurogamer review for a verdict. There are also going to be Steam guest passes for existing players, soon.

Ah, boring old reality, how you deny me my action-heroics in the stars. It’s depressing enough that we seem to live in a post-space age era, but the fact that the space shuttle is being retired next year seems to put us even further away from our glorious future of zero-G combat in the vacuum of space. Thank goodness for videogame fantasy fulfillment, that’s what I say. Shattered Horizon is out this week, and it’s probably going to be the best astronaut deathmatch you’re going to play this year. Probably. The launch trailer is below, and it features lots of dudes in spacesuits going limp and ragdolling into the void. Just like in my dreams…

Go read our interview for some more developer insight on the zero-G shooter. I’ll probably conjure up a review once the launch game has been live for a while.
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Earlier this week we spoke to Antti Summala, the lead designer on astronaut shooter, Shattered Horizon. The resulting interview covers a bunch of topics, including the advantages of self-publishing, the reasoning behind making the game DirectX 10 only, and the problems of control systems when there is no universal up or down. The game itself is out on Steam for €20/$20/£15 on the 4th of November. Read on for a peek into Futuremark’s adventures in near-future sci-fi.
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