Revivalist Arena FPS Reflex Is Now On Early Access

Reflex aims to bring back the competitive, multiplayer Quake 3-styled first-person shooter, but its Kickstarter project was cancelled early when it became clear it wasn't going to meet its goal. Its developers said that instead they were going to focus their efforts on polishing up the very small, existing build of the game so that they could release it into Early Access, to hopefully convince people of the merits of the game by simply letting them play it. Less than a month later, that's now happened: Reflex's alpha is available now through Steam.

I linked the main trailer below, so instead here's a specific look at the game's movement system:

I'm almost certainly never going to be good enough to perform most of those circle jumps, stake jumps, strafe jumps, and triple jumps, but I do love that they're supported and that I can marvel at other people performing them. Watching Quake 3 matches was always a joy less for the precision aiming, and more for the way pro-players would develop short routes around the level, time their journeys to secure armour and mega healths, and use weapons as much for area denial as for outright killing.

Reflex also comes with a multiplayer map editor for those industrious folks who like to make their own levels. Some of the most fun I had with Quake 3 was in messing about in Radiant, so this 51 minute walkthrough of the tools is exciting to me both because i) I like making maps and ii) technology now means that making maps isn't a total pain with long compile times and constant geometry leaks.

Things haven't been the same between Adam and I since I rejuvenated the childish, pointless argument between which arena-set first-person shooter is best. I half-wonder if his holiday this week is because he can't handle the psychological assault of my clear, water-tight arguments as to why Quake 3 is better than Unreal Tournament.