On the show floor of PAX East one thing was prominent and that their were plenty of 2d side scrollers coming from indie or xbla/psn devs. These guys are not only familiar with this category but has ruled this space time and time again. The Behemoth were showing their 3rd game recently titled BattleBlock Theater and unlike previous entries such as Castle Crashers and Alien Hominid, this one takes a different approach. We got a chance to check it out for ourselves and see what this party style game is about.
From the start we customized our characters to play with and were able to change the head type, face, body and weapon for some really interesting looking players. Three game modes were shown and all were two vs two matches. The first one we played had us color blocks by touching them around the stage. Each team had a color and a few seconds in which we can steal the block they are changing. Once the block was a solid color they could no longer be change. Games were also timed and given two rounds and one tie breaker if needed. Essentially this game type is graffiti that can be seen in other games but the 2D approach worked well in this case.
The second was collecting gold coins from what seemed to have been a floating wale. The coins when grabbed would then float to your safe box that was floating around with your team, however if your opponents manage to kill you by stomping on your head or by attack then they can steal the coin in progress. Unlike the first stage this one had three pools of water which can also make you lose coins if fallen into.
Third game and were told was just added into PAX East was king of the hill with a twist. Each person had their own “flag” (was more like a ghost in them) and the object is to take one member of the opposing teams flag to start receiving points for each second they held onto it. One of each opposing teams flag can be held for you and your teammate but once you get killed your flag and theirs pops out of you putting them up for grabs.
The four player party style gameplay has just the right amount of flare to make it another hit. Although minimal instructions were given before each mode, it took mere moments to figure out what was going on. The unique style that has been used for Castle Crashers and Alien Hominid before it, is fluid as always. One of the best pick up and play games we’ve seen in awhile, for now no release date is known except that it will release in 2010, we’ll give you more news as it comes in.
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