Bearler Hat: Wild Warfare
Bears with guns. Yes.
I am officially calling Game of the Year 2014, and indeed every other year, to the game that lets me be a bear in a bowler hat with a heavy machine gun. Pack up your bags, folks, it's time to find another worthwhile pursuit in which to win such prestigious awards. Wild Warfare, a browser-based team FPS reminiscent of Team Fortress 2 in more ways that one, has it all wrapped up. It's got classes, it's got hats, it's got comedy announcers - it even has a free alpha version that you can jam through the browser of your choice or download here. It's also up on Kickstarter, after 24,000 quaint Canadian dollars, with the intention of making "all [the] numbers much bigger."
I had a play, and it's in the basic-but-fun state you'd expect from a Kickstarter Alpha. There's not a lot of variation between what happens between each death, but it's colourful and feedback-filled enough to bounce a couple of endorphins round your brain. The vehicles, classes, loot drops and hats means there's stuff to keep you playing, unlocking and experimenting with. What's not explicitly stated, but is rather clear, is how all this will be supported post-release. Given the sorts of things developer Hyper Hippo Productions are giving out as rewards, it's looking very free-to-play, with everything from XP-boosters to paid-for guns.
The money they're after is enough to take it to a fully fledged release, but the stretch goals are what they're openly admitting will make it something special. There's a whole great list of possible additions, some of which seem pretty essential, with more listed on the Kickstarter page besides. We'll see how many of their lofty goals they can hit: as much as I'd love this to be the new messiah of competitive multiplayer shooters, that might be pushing it. Have a play, look at some screens and trailers on Greenlight then maybe pitch in.
