We've made it to another Friday, hooray! What are your plans for the weekend? Anything fun happening? There's not much going on over here. Just relaxing and sleeping in a little. I did get wind of a new web-based fighter by our favorite indy fighting game developer Scott Stoddard. You might remember Scott better as the creator of the Capoeira Fighter series.
Scott has a new game called Death Vegas. It was created by his studio Spiritonin for Adult Swim. Fans of Metalocalypse and Robot Chicken, this fighter might be up your alley. But calling it a fighting game might be a little short sighted. This game doesn't play like Capoeira Fighter at all. Because of the control scheme and ability to read opponents moves in advance it involves a lot more concentration and faster reflexes than most fighters. If Capoeira Fighter were akin to Street Fighter Alpha then it would be fair to say that Death Vegas plays somewhere in between Killer Instinct and Primal Rage. Those arcade games used unique control schemes that gamers either liked or hated, there was no in between.
In addition to a dial-a-combo type gameplay Killer Instinct also incorporated a combo breaker system. A sort of forefather to the parry in Street Fighter III and the Revenge attack in Street Fighter IV. Death Vegas offers a sort of dial-combo move during special attacks yet also offers opponents a chance to block all those strikes. Primal Rage used joystick movements and delayed button releases (rather than presses) to perform moves and combos. Good players of Primal Rage had to be able to plan attacks and counter-attacks well in advance. Mashing buttons wouldn't get you far in either Killer Instinct or Primal Rage. The ability to read and react to every move in Death Vegas means the same thing. Players must be able to concentrate and plan the next few strikes in advance and that might put many gamers off.
The characters in Death Vegas are all unique and are scaled much larger than the characters in Capoeira Fighter 3. They are so large that they remind me of Art of Fighting sprites. Again, taking this game further from the Street Fighter comparisons. An extensive tutoring mode is included to allow gamers to learn the nuances for the game. A plot is used to pull the players through a mystery involving all of the characters they encounter on the streets and back alleys of the city.
Something that you might notice is the distinct character style that Spiritonin used in this game. The characters and game have a decidedly Sin City-meets-Killer 7 vibe to it. Very powerful contrast and carefully marked colors make out the characters and level details. All this adds a layer of detail and originality in this world of cookie-cutter 3D fighters. It also helps Death Vegas stick out in the world of web-based fighters.
Now this game isn't for everyone. The fighting can become very redundant with the computer-controlled opponent blocking almost all of your moves the further you get into the game. It can quickly become a test of concentration and looking for a mistake rather than a full throttle fight. Those that aren't hardcore fighters will want to pass on this title.
Death Vegas has some fun things going for it, the scale of the characters and polish of the animation and presentation shows that Spiritonin is only getting better with age. However this isn't likely to dethrone Capoeira Fighter 3 as the best web-based fighter. Check it out and let me know what you think. Oh yeah, and also have a great weekend! As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!
The artwork is not too bad
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