Be There, Be Square: BattleBlock Theater

BattleBlock TheatER is The Behemoth's well-received follow-up to the side-scrolling beat 'em up Castle Crashers, which contained gaming's most recognisable defecating deer. I don't know if BattleBlock continues the proud tradition of cacking Cervidae but the trailer announcing the Steam version does have one sadly unexpurgated scene of extreme expurgation. Whether you're keen to see a cartoon trouser-mess or not, you should watch the trailer because it's a brilliant little skit about console-to-PC ports, and it contains more Oculus Rifts than any of those underground indie game conventions that you never seem to get invited to.

If I worked at Namco, I'd have been tempted to release a Dark Souls II trailer in a similar style, which is why I'm more likely to be clubbed to death by furious stand-up comedy patrons than to ever land a job in PR.

Now that you know what the Steam version of the game doesn't contain, here's what's new:

-Weapon switching! Players can now switch between a primary and secondary weapon in game!
-New Cat Guard enemies throughout Story Mode.
-Steam Workshop integration for sharing user created levels.
-Steam Inventory integration for trading! This allows users to trade and sell weapons, prisoners, gems and yarn via Steam.
-X input, Direct Input, and Keyboard/Mouse support.

Like many things in life, BattleBlock is probably best experienced with a co-op partner but you can play alone if you insist. Just don't tell the Pope, for Christ's cazzo's sake.

It's a platform game with a level editor, a sense of humour and the ability to punch cats into pools of water. Closed beta signups are now open and the testing phase should run from March 24th to 31st.