Run Like Hell! Seum: Speedrunners From Hell Released
First-person platforming
Having spent a chunk of my youth in Quake II mastering strafe-jumping and practising tricks and routes on maps until I could do them backwards, I'm up for a time trial first-person platformer. That's the idea of Seum: Speedrunners from Hell [official site], which launched today. It's a string of short zippy levels with platforms to leap between, buzzsaws to dodge, walls to blast, and secrets to find. It's got a demo too so you can try it yourself. I had a quick bash myself.
The demo's twelve levels have a bit of straight platforming and a few things you might expect from a puzzle-platformer. Pick-ups give abilities like flying and teleporting, the latter of which is a bit like moving in Vive games - you throw portals and warp to where they land. Add in death traps, shortcuts, and a whole load of air control, and you have some challenging time trials with plenty of places to trim milliseconds and climb the leaderboards. The full game has 100 levels.
You can download the demo from Steam, Game Jolt, and Itch.
Ah, it's not really for me. I suspect my experiences with zippy first-person platforming are the problem. I'm so used to Quake physics that this feels wrong. It feels a bit clumsy. I was flubbing jumps that my fingers we're sure I'd landed. It's also strange that the things I associate so much with skilled first-person movement - rocketjumping, grenadejumping, and strafe-jumping - aren't in this. Parts look a bit like Quake 3 but don't feel like it and that jars for me.
But! My first-person platforming circuits fused almost two decades ago and are incapable of learning anything new. Maybe you would like it? The demo's right there.
Seum: Speedrunners from Hell is out for Windows, Mac, and Linux on Steam priced at £8.79/11,99€/$11.99, which includes a launch discount.
