Rock, Paper, Shotgun

LAST TIME, ON THE SHOWDOWN EFFECT:

[Cars explode or something]

Arnold Schwarzenegger parody: “Wow, this sure is great! I can slice and shoot people, and it’s all so fast-pace– [gets sliced and shot to pieces, emits comical death yodel].”

[More explosions, no one looks at them]

Elderly monk man: “Hah, that was too easy. Which is basically what this game becomes after you figure out the rhythm and realize there are only a few weapons, items, and character abilities. There’s just not much long-term value. Er, I mean, hiyah! Tongue-in-cheek reference to a well-known action film!”

[Further explosions with no apparent cause]

Explosions: “Hey, I know: you guys should go to the Wild West for some reason. Westerns were kind of action movies, right? They had guns and stuff. Also, fantastic soundtracks. Er, I mean, ka-boom.”

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Arrowhead and Paradox are dabbling in the absurd once again with their “2.5D” shooter, The Showdown Effect, which is destined to be released quite soon. The latest trailer shows numerous hi-jinks. Paradox claims that the trailer’s “Intricate Bullet Ballet Forever Answers Games-as-Art Debate”.

Yeeees. The game can be pre-ordered, with amusing bonuses, over here. Folks who pre-order will find themselves injected immediately into the on-going beta.
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Paradox’s The Showdown Effect now has its own website. Why it hasn’t had its own website since its announcement in March last year is perhaps a pertinent question. But with the side-scrolling cop movie-spoofing/celebrating multiplayer due out on the 5th March, it’s about time it did. And as you might imagine on such an occasion, there’s a new trailer too.

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I do so love games that are unabashedly cheeky. I know, I know: that’s pretty much like scaling my way to the highest mountain tops and proclaiming my love for breathing and blinking to the calloused undersides of god’s feet, but apparently, some people only play games through gritted teeth and furrowed brows. I think those people are silly, though, and I won’t be inviting them to my games of Magicka developer Arrowhead’s The Showdown Effect because a) they’d hate it and b) I’m very petty. Boasting grin-inducing gems like “Fight to the death, or die trying,” the sidescrolling multiplayer mash-’em-up lampoons just about everything – including itself. Watch its creators have a laugh at their own characters after the break.

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The last we heard of The Showdown Effect, the new side-scrolling and cartoony shootybangbang game from the makers of the reliably silly Magicka, was back in April. Now, it’s spooling up its beta-testing mini-gun, and hopes to lure in passers-by by revelling shamelessly in as many action movie cliches as it can conjure up. CONJURE LIKE IN MAGICKA.
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Not enough things are inspired by 1980s action movies. And I write that knowing a quite a lot of things actually inspired by that apex of stupidity, and I should probably shut up, but I only have one day as a regular updater left on RPS and I’m demob happy. So I’m demanding more things that explode, more quips about death, and rocket launchers for everyone. Luckily I have a game directly inspired by all those things in my sights: The Showdown Effect. Magicka developers Arrowhead Games have taken everything I like in the world and dragged the camera out and to the side, so it’s viewed from a side on perspective. This revolutionary positioning of the camera makes everything easier to see. Proof of this can be found in the half-hour demonstration that Paradox hosted and have now uploaded to the internet. It’s probably too long to just sit and stare at, so the inclusion of the developer commentary and the Q&A make are welcome.
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Paradox Interactive are getting a taste for the limelight. Mmm, citrussy. Tonight at 8PM CEST, which my brain refuses to accept is 7pm UK time, they’ll be showing off four of their upcoming games on their Twitch TV channel. There’s something for everyone, as long as you like 2D shooters, dwarf-based strategy, co-op action adventures , or competitive RTS. Do you like those? I’m interested in The Showdown Effect, personally. He’s dreamy.
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Run for higher ground, for the deluge has begun. As you may be aware, the GDC is in full swing now, which means announcements of a ludic nature are flooding my inbox and I only need to adjust the intricate series of valves that is my protective system ever so slightly to let them slip through, one at a time. Or maybe three at a time, as Paradox have announced a trio of games.

The first two are Dungeonland, in which three players control heroes in a twisted theme park while a fourth plays the Dungeon Master attempting to kill them, and RED Frontier, a multiplayer RTS. Let’s start with the new game from Arrowhead, creators of friend-murdering simulation Magicka. Going by the name The Showdown Effect It’s a side-on multiplayer action game. Here’s how it looks.

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