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Left 4 Dead writer's studio announce new co-op shooter

The Anacrusis sounds like Left 4 Dead in space, and that's a-okay

While the original studio behind Left 4 Dead are making an unofficial sequel in Back 4 Blood, one of the Valve writers who gave L4D its personality is making a new cooperative monster-mashing shooter too. Stray Bombay, the studio co-founded by former Valve writer Chet Faliszek and former Riot designer Dr. Kimberly Voll, today announced The Anacrusis. It's a four-player FPS set aboard a giant stranded spaceship, and you can see a bit in the trailer below.

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Monster hordes look a bit ropey but hey, I'm feeling hopeful. I do like that spaceship's decor.

So there you are, in a terrible place with your pals, pitted against a horde of monsters. An AI drector is overseeing the action, spawning enemies, bosses, and items to challenge you. Which is a description of The Anacrusis that applies to Left 4 Dead just as much. Looks like it's very much doing that sort of thing, y'know. Only this time it's a terrible giant spaceship filled with terrible space monsters, and you've got weapons like space guns and stasis grenades.

Sounds like they're doing a lot of work to help you play with pals. Along with supporting cross-platform multiplayer, The Anacrusis will let players share unlocks too. That's very nice.

They also note that mod support is planned, with the game due to launch with "a selection of mods created by community members."

The Anacrusis is due to launch this autumn on Steam and the Epic Games Store, as well as Xboxes.

Our Alice Bee talked with Chet and Kimberley back in 2019, who at that time were vague about what they were making but did discuss the ideas behind their work.


E3 2021 may be over but our memories live on - see everything on our E3 hub. Many more big game showcases and streams are still to come this summer, leading up to Gamescom, so see our summer games stream schedule to stay up to date.

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