Night-Mayor: Jeklynn Heights Hits Early Access
Multiplayer class warfare
The last time we posted about Jeklynn Heights [official site], the words were the work of old man Rossignol, which means the news was probably inked onto an illuminated manuscript. Back then (December, 2010), the game's creator Ryan Wenke described it as "a dark fairy tale multiplayer game that combines a multitude of genres including FPS, RPG, Action, and Adventure", and now that the game is in Early Access, we can see for ourselves.
It's a tale we're all familiar with - the rich and the poor are at war, and they're trying to escape from a haunted town but to do so they'll have to compete in a series of events set up by the ghastly mayor. It's about London, then.
Except no. The town in question is the titular Jeklynn Heights and the events the two teams will throw themselves into involve activities such as capturing, collecting, stealing and killing. Essentially, each match is a quickfire series of rounds, in which the objectives and rules are a surprise to both teams. One minute you might be playing a deathmatch, the next you might need to go on the defensive as the other team tries to steal all of your stuff.
I've been looking for a replacement for Magicka: Wizard Wars since it shut up shop and while I'm not entirely sold on the visuals here (it looks very busy), I'd like to gather some chums and visit the Heights. The fast pace and shifting objectives should create a chaotic scene, which I'm more likely to emerge from victorious than the regimented and intricate plays of a MOBA match.