14 DAY TRIAL // Sunset Overdrive is one of the biggest exclusive Xbox One launches of the fall and the development team working on the experience at Insomniac Games believes that the experience will introduce an entirely new paradigm for the shooter genre and will influence the way it evolves in the future.
Ted Price, one of the founders of the studio and leader on the new project, tells Eurogamer that a different tone and style were always part of the concept behind their new title.
Only once mechanics were introduced did Insomniac Games understand that it needed to implement new features that move away from the current trends, including cover and realism.
The game creator states, “For the last decade we've all been playing similar shooters, and we felt there was an opportunity, especially on the new-gen, to present a new paradigm. But, as I said earlier, it took a lot of trial and error to figure out how to make it work. It wasn't easy. And you'll find playing the game, if you are an avid shooter player, we retrain you on how to actually approach this new type of shooter.”
In order to make sure that classic shooter mechanics do not work in Sunset Overdrive, all enemies are very fast and can take the gamer character out quickly if they are on the ground and don’t move.
Style, substance and shooters
Price also says that the style mechanics are designed to get players on rooftops, moving as fast as possible and taking out enemies while also doing acrobatics.
He adds, “The reason that's important is because as you build up more and more style, you activate amps. Amps are the crafted power-ups we have in the game, which affect your hero abilities, your melee, and your weapons. We also have these epic amps that will be triggered after you hit the third style level.”
Sunset Overdrive offers a cooperative mode in which gamers have to deal with ever more powerful waves of enemies in order to get rewards.
The title also has a competitive mode, and for both of them the team is planning to introduce a variety of weapons and player boosts, allowing gamers to define their own style and get the tools that best suit their approach.
Sunset Overdrive will be launched only on the Xbox One and can be played starting October 28 in North America and October 31 in Europe.
