My heart beats in my chest, my back, wet with sweat, is pressed against the only whole shelter - a wooden table. Bullets whistle around, scraps of paper, pieces of broken glass scatter, and the understanding comes that the wooden defender will not be able to withstand the pressure of automatic fire for a long time. Clutching the pistol more tightly in your hand, you rush into the attack. Fortune favors its chosen one: the enemy runs out of cartridges. You throw your last bullet offhand, but the enemy goes into the tackle, and the hope for a quick outcome flies into the milk. Knocking the weapon out of his hands with a powerful kick, you force the enemy to switch to melee. A fierce scuffle ensues, as a result of which you and your ill-wisher fly out through the window of the second floor and land hard on the pavement. For the enemy, everything ends in tears, but his corpse softens the fall to you. A sense of pride and triumph overwhelms the soul. But it does not last long. Someone shoots the lashing chain, and a piano falls on your poor head and smashes you into a cake.
But the most interesting thing is that next time everything will be different.
A step back
in time Mytho-Logic Interactive created a game called Superfighters. It was a game about a group of people killing each other in the arena, using melee weapons and firearms, melee attacks, grenades, cover, dodging, first aid kits, time dilation and explosive barrels in battle.
There were only four maps, but the random generation of objects at the level introduced variety to the game, i.e. the structure of the level was unchanged, but characters, weapons and power-ups respawns, exploding barrels and various boxes appeared in new places. This brought unpredictability and chaos to every battle.
The battles took place in three modes. In Stage Mode, you had to go through the cards in a given order, fighting with the number of opponents that the game had prepared for you. With the passage of all twelve battles, a new character skin was opened. In Vs Mode, you yourself chose the map, the number and appearance of bots from the eight available skins. The simplest mode was Survival, where you had to fight on the same map with the advancing waves of opponents, and they all had only one skin - the agent. Reminds me of The Matrix, don’t you? It is also worth noting that all these modes could be played with a live partner if there was this very partner and a place behind the keyboard.
The developers themselves describe their creation in the following words: "This game is about how little people shoot, chop, crush, cut, burn and tear each other to pieces, and then do it again!" In my opinion, this is the most accurate description of what is happening in the game.
Mytho-Logic Interactive is currently working on a sequel to this great game. Superfighters Deluxe is a direct sequel to Superfighters and is essentially an improved version of it.
Your friend run the ball
In general, the game mechanics remain the same. You still hit, chop, shoot, explode everything, but now it has become more convenient. Let's take a closer look at the capabilities of your fighter. At the beginning of a weapon battle, you only have your fists and legs, which can do a good job for the entire round. Thanks to this "innate" weapon, you can knock weapons out of the hands of your enemies, knock them down and inflict good punches. Of course, fights are fun, but shooting is also a hunt, isn't it? On the battle arena, you can find weapons of two types: cold and firearms. Unlike the first part, your fighter can carry on his shoulders one type of cold, small-caliber and large-caliber weapons, as well as grenades. When one of these weapons falls into his hands, the fists disappear from the arsenal, but the sure kick stays with him always. Also, large and small first aid kits, slowdown and laser sights appear in the arena. With all this, I think it's clear: first-aid kits - heal, slowdown - turns on temporary slow-motion for the entire map at once, and the laser sight makes it easier to aim. True, it will only be available for weapons in the hands of the character, and the red line from your weapon is also visible to the enemies, which makes this improvement not entirely useful.
Wielding a firearm, your fighter can aim to knock heads off the shoulders of enemies or shoot their bodies from the hip. But it should be remembered that when aiming, the fighter is motionless, which means that he is an easy target. Speaking of movement, the killing machine under your control can jog or run like crazy. In the first mode, she dodges enemy fire by somersault, and in the second, she makes an elegant jump to the side, thanks to which she can knock the enemy down or land softly when jumping from a great height. But flashing your heels on the battlefield, you need to remember about the endurance of the fighter. Stamina is selected for the use of the sprint, so you should watch the white strip above your head, otherwise, it is not even an hour, you will still die from shortness of breath. True, it doesn't cost anything to catch your breath, you just need to release the "accelerating" button for a second.
But when there is nowhere to run, you have to look your opponent in the face ... or hide behind the nearest table, barrel, box, piece of wall, pile of cans, billiard table, bar, etc. and shoot back from there. True, not all shelters are equally strong: active objects, such as a barrel or a box, will not survive for a long time under enemy fire, and static ones, for example, a bar counter, will never collapse. But the box can be delivered with kicks to the point you need, but this will not work with the bar counter.
Also, the random from the first part has not gone anywhere. Players, weapons, upgrades, explosive barrels and similar game objects each appear in their own place, randomly selected from, albeit limited, set of options. Therefore, where the last time there was, say, a harmless and even useful wooden box, in a new battle a mountain of red barrels may appear, an aimed shot at which a sickly BABAH can arrange.
Also, not all the time the same weapon or improvement is in the same place. After raising it or after a certain time, it will be changed to another, again randomly selected. Therefore, if you saw a peacefully lying rocket launcher, then you need to run to it as fast as you can, otherwise Mr. Random may soon replace it, say, with a pistol.
Pixel skin
Compared to the first part, the visual aspect of the game has also improved. It still remains pixelated, but its detail has increased. There are more small objects on the maps, backgrounds have become more varied and detailed. Each arena has its own general visual design, as well as recognizable features. For example, a Ferris wheel on a Fairground or a train on a Subway. Just glancing at the screen, you can confidently say which card is in front of you right now.
Also worth noting is the character editor. If in the first part you chose one of eight ready-made fighters, now you are free to design the appearance of your fighter yourself.
On the battlefields
At the moment, there are twelve playable maps, but with the release of updates, this number can change both up and down. Also, due to changes in mechanics, the structure of arenas may change. By the way, about the structure. Each map has several floors for battle, you can move between them in different ways: by stairs, by elevator, through holes in the walls, roof and floor, clinging to ledges and cracks in the walls, or simply falling from somewhere above (do not be afraid, rafters can soften the fall). There were no "deaf" dead ends on the battlefields, but also completely open places - you always have room for a tactical retreat. It's worth noting in general that the maps in Superfighters Deluxe are not entirely static. They contain objects that, if destroyed, can slightly change the structure of the arena. For example, on the construction rafters, you can move between floors, but if they are shot, then this path will be closed. Also with crumbling walls, floors and ceilings. Of course, this is not a Battlefield level, but you are quite allowed to make "holes" in certain places on the map.
The game has an editor, so if you have the desire and patience, you can create your own battle arena or download the creations of other players from the network. But I should warn you that with the release of new updates, custom maps may no longer be supported by the game.
I want live meat!
If the first part offered the player local battles with bots or, if desired, with one of his friends, then its continuation at the moment of development has completely gone into network battles. From one to eight people can participate in the battles. If in the previous part there were three, although quite similar, modes, then here it is only one so far - Versus. But, believe me, it is more than enough. And if you are suddenly tired of fighting in the "all against all" mode, the game allows players to unite in teams before the start of the battle. However, no one forbids remaining independent fighters and fighting against everyone at once. Members of the same team cannot inflict damage to each other with their fists, but no one is safe from a shotgun shot or falling piano.
The game is still in pre-alpha, but even now it is a completely playable product. Diverse gameplay mechanics, high-quality arena structure and chaos will not let you and your opponents get bored.
You can play the game on the developers website.
If you suddenly want to support Mytho-Logic Interective from the financial side, you can follow this link. But the authors of the game warn that they do not have clear plans for the future, and therefore ask to donate to their projects only really extra money.
