EGX Rezzed - Couch Party Games

During our visit to Rezzed last weekend, we found one particular type of game that was successfully on the rise: couch games. For me, this took me back to simpler times, when my PS2 was a rendezvous point for me and all my friends, and we met with the humble purpose of blowing each other up to smithereens in a virtual world. Nowadays, whereas there is the occasional game that will allow me to beat my friends up digitally and physically simultaneously, like Towerfall Ascension, or Duck Game, their numbers are scarce. This is why seeing so many good-looking games at Rezzed that may attempt to destroy my friendships was so refreshing. With the shield of a computer screen and sheltered in their own houses, network gaming with friends doesn’t allow me to push the boundaries of our friendship. This year, all is bound to change.

Gang Beasts

This absurd physics battle game has been in Early Access for some time now, and its presence in Rezzed confirms the commitment to pushing this game out there as much as possible . With the full release expected at some point this year, Gang Beasts is a messy, drunken fest of raw physical comedy. Four players will stumble their way in stages that allow for the funniest and most ridiculous situations. You can punch your enemies, grab them, and jump, and the objective is to throw them off a building, or onto the train tracks, depending on the level, so they’re obliterated by the environment.

Most of the work in this game is done by the physics engine. Every animation, from turning around, to jumping, to dragging somebody by their feet while they try to anchor themselves onto an object, is enough to make you laugh. They’re lanky, drunk-like movements that make zero sense. By customising your character with masks, hats, and other apparel, all sticking to one of the four colours that your characters have, you’re simply creating more hilarious situations without even realising. The recent addition of VR support just makes the physics system all the more amusing, although it may break the illusion as you’re still able to see the defeated brawlers around the edges of the map. Special mention goes to the meat grinder, a level where our gelatinous characters will be chopped into little pieces along with strings of sausages.

Oh My Godheads!

This little game was recently Greenlit on Steam, and its fast-paced action and thrill-inducing competition is enough to give it a try. A simple capture-the-flag game; two teams of two players will brawl and wrestle to seize the eponymous gigantic godhead in the middle of the arena, and take it back to their home base. In order to avoid the enemy doing so, you can chuck bombs, dash at them, or even smack them with your weapon. When carrying the godhead back, the only thing you can do is run, so sometimes it’s better to clear off the arena before you proceed to nick the godhead. At that point, you better run, because the enemy team will soon spawn back into the game, and they’re very fast when not carrying the idol.

Surprisingly, the aspect of this game that caught my eye is that it encourages teamwork very subtly. Such a large objective is hard to be missed, so with all players drawn towards it, playing the objective is the only option. Now, since you’re handicapped when transporting the enormous idol, your teammate is in charge of keeping enemy players at bay while you retreat to your altar and place the idol on the plinth. This action-packed game, with small stages but plenty of fun, features comical renditions of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, and if you want to give it a go, you can find a demo available here. Oh, did I mention that the godhead may explode and kill you? Worth noting, I reckon.

Last Fight

A certain level of skill is required in the two games above, no doubt, but they’re also messy enough to allow you to wing it even when you’re drunk. Last Fight is slightly more demanding in that regard; a brawler with a comic-inspired visual style. In fact, Last Fight shares the universe with LASTMAN, a French comic book with loads of punching in it. This game has a much less serious tone, and it’s a brawler in its purest form. Not only can you pick up objects in the different wacky scenarios and throw them at your enemy, but you can also request rocket-launchers, or transform to more powerful fighters. Its comic inspiration is also reflected throughout the cast of characters — the ones revealed so far —, ranging from an average-looking fighter, to a Poison Ivy lookalike, to a corporation shark who I’m sure it’s the devil’s most human form. Oh, and a very ugly man-fish. He seems tough, but I’m sure he’s just a wuss.