Stick 'Em Up: Kingdom Of Loathing Goes West
I walk the line
I first discovered the stick person MMORPG Kingdom of Loathing a million years ago when I was still at school. In 2003, I'd never seen anything like it and reveled in its off-the-wall humour and general weirdness. As a game that looked so simple at first glance, I was taken by its depth, and, much later, was taken aback by the fact it once wrote Alec an email. I guess that speaks volumes of its influence.
Most interestingly, developers Asymmetric have now announced a "loosely spun" follow-up named West of Loathing [official site] and billed as "like Skyrim, but with big hats and canned beans instead of glass armor and cheese wheels."
Quite the comparison, I'm sure you'll agree, but one which captures the essence of KoL - in both its humour and its acuity. West of Loathing's teaser trailer seems to echo that sentiment:
Besides its rather comical aesthetic, it seems West of Loathing extends its comedy to most of its makeup, not least its class options. "I had the strangest dream. I was...choosing a character class," it reads, before offering you the choice of three discernible occupations: Cow Puncher, Beanslinger, or Snake Oiler because, well, why not? In one of these roles, Asymmetric say you'll be getting up to the following:
"Explore perilous gulches, skeleton-riddled cemeteries, mysterious abandoned mines, and disreputable saloons. Plumb the ruins of ancient civilizations for riches, deliver justice to unscrupulous and sarcastic bandits, and negotiate complex bureaucracies in cursed ghost towns full of cursed ghost accountants. And watch your back, because danger and dumb jokes lurk around every corner."
West of Loathing is after votes on Steam Greenlight and plans to release on Windows, Mac and Linux at some point in 2017.