No Diamonds or Pearls: Lead & Gold

Stop looking at that weird thing I'm doing with my finger and my lip in the video below, and harken to this instead. We last wrote about multiplayer cowboy shooter (a subgenre that must henceforth be known as Multiboy) Lead & Gold in October. Seeing as the rootin', tootin' thing's now mere weeks from release, and that you can currently access the beta if you pre-order, let's have another look-see.

I suspect it's trying to be a little bit TF2, at least in the marketing - the below (meet ) The Trapper video will be followed by The Blaster, The Deputy, The Goat-Fluffer and The Gunslinger. They're due soon, but here's the first. SHE'S A LADY AND EVERYTHING.

The Synergy thinger is supposed to be pretty key. The idea is you work alongside your team, rather than the traditional totally ignore them and go look for someone to shoot approach, and doing so means y'all get buffed up. For instance, hanging around a Trapper will boost your chance to score critical hits.

For more on that, and the other classes, here's Lead Programmer Joakim Wahlstrom talking through the game's main bits. Man, I really hope Joakim is pronounced 'Whacking'. That always pleases me.

Looks like there's a spot of Enemy Territory in there too, given what appears to be a per-match unlock system.

So yeah, Lead & Gold. A quick squint at the RPS inbox reveals we've been invited onto the beta, so it's quite possible we'll have some first-hand thoughts before launch. But if your interest in this Multiboy (it'll catch on) is sufficiently piqued already, you can preorder it on Steam for a 10% discount and immediate beta access. Otherwise, the game launches on April 8.

It's very cheap - £10/$15 - even before the discount, so I dunno if that's to reflect the low number of maps (6) and classes (4), cos it's a wee bit low-budget or just cos Paradox are nice. Anyone playing? Let us know what it's like.