I got a chance to experienceEGX Rezzed for my second year as press, this past weekend. There was so much to do; booths to see, games to play, talks to go to, game jams going on right in the building, VR demos to try out, people to meet, food to be eaten, a career fair looking to get you hired, people in costumes, the BAFTA’s and much more. I went on all three days of Rezzed, but still was unable to see everything.
This event is hosted in the Tobacco Dock in London, England. This old historical building is quite unique with tons of natural light and areas opened up to the sky. There is even a huge boat hung outside of the building. With so much going on, it’s hard to pick what to do first. Upon entering Rezzed, I decided I would just be checking out the games, VR demos, and people. There were quite a few amazing sounding talks, but there were just too many games to look at. I believe these talks are planned to be posted online, so I figured I would listen to them at a later point.
The Indie Games of Rezzed
Indie games were dotted all around Rezzed. There was specifically an Indie Games room, which was huge and had many booths of awesome games to play. Rock Paper Shotgun had a room where they also featured some indie games that they loved. A couple of indie publishers had their own rooms packed with games that they had helped publish as well. There was also the Leftfield Collection - a bunch of hand picked indie games that were quirky, unique, and pushed your idea of how to play a game. Even PlayStation had their own indie section of cool games to check out. I was able to play quite a few indie games, below are ones that stuck in my head.
Snake Pass is a cute exploration puzzler that has you controlling a snake. This snake is just looking to free its hamster friend and give him a big hug! You are able to slither around parts of a beautiful world, collecting eggs and raising flags. The movement of this snake is quite impressive - you are unable to move in a straight line, but also don’t need to arc around in a circle. You can control the slithering back and forth, moving faster as you get the hang of turning. The snake can also grip onto different structures and trees to get up higher. You can raise your snake head slightly, then start wiggling your body up until you get onto the structure. The controls feel amazing and the game itself is adorable and super well made.
Knife to Meet You
Knife to Meet You is a multiplayer game about avoiding a real knife that swings around towards you. This game is completely contained in its own controller - complete with a real kitchen knife. You and two other friends each have a single button to control. You must push down on this button to fill a bar. If one button is held down the bar will stay stable, if two are held down, the bar will increase. If three are held down all at the same time, the bar will fill up quite fast. Meanwhile, there is a kitchen knife on a motor trying to stop you! It will swing around and sometimes try to catch you out in order to take one of your lives. You all only have a few lives between you, so it’s important to let your fingers jump over the knife. (Note: At the Rezzed build, the knife did not hurt anyone, as the motor wasn’t strong enough to cut skin) This game is super unique and quite fun to play - as it has an element of fear and surprise when the knife does hit your fingertips!
Vignettes is a colorful, curious puzzle game where you must twist objects around to unlock new objects. When I saw this game, I wasn’t quite sure what to do. There are no instructions, no words (other than the title) and no real explanation of what is going on. Soon I found that you are able to click and drag the picture around. Things like lamps, light bulbs, picture frames, books, televisions, and much more can be moved in a way that they become something else. Sometimes kaleidoscopic backgrounds need to be changed in order to go to a new area, or light bulbs need to be clicked to change the color of everything on the screen. You are looking to find specific objects that then unlock on the side of the screen. This toy-like game is quite fun to tinker around with. When you find a new object, you feel like you have really solved something, but sometimes you can just end up going backwards.
Not CoD, a funny Call of Duty parody, is one of the funniest games I have played at Rezzed. This game has it all; stylish MS Paint looking graphics, characters with witty lines that are voiced by the developers, and two different music options (one kid-friendly, the other not so much). You play as Sudsy, a british army man who is in charge of a couple of soldiers. One soldier’s only task is to open gates - because, you know, going through gates is quite important. Without him, you would be screwed. As you go through levels, shooting and bombing away all the enemies, you will be able to experience some super funny cut scenes, find more guns, and gain more soldiers. This game is currently not out yet, but there are a few humorous teaser videos. This game made me laugh out loud - and the developers were even dressed as Nuns at Rezzed!
Electric Lullaby is a mobile game that has you trying to survive in a huge world before you fall asleep. Each day, you are looking to eat and drink enough to fill you before it is time for you to go to bed. As you walk around, you will use up energy and discover new things. Chests are dotted around the lands holding stickers that allow you to do actions like drink, eat, cut, blow wind, and more. You can only use these stickers once you have them, forcing you to explore all of the land to find more actions. Once you are too tired to go on, you will go to sleep where you are standing. When you are asleep, a timer appears on the screen telling you when you are able to check back later and wake up. While you are asleep, a monster comes out and explores near you. This monster is looking out for you, helping you if you are hungry or thirsty, always reacting to what you did during the day. The monster will leave you notes and sometimes memories or diary entries depending on what you do while you are awake. You must sleep in order to get the surprises that may come during the night!
Carpe Lucem is a Virtual Reality relaxing puzzler that plays with the depth of objects. Using a VR
headset, you must bring light to steampunk styled flowers so that they may bloom. Tools in each level will help you redirect the light to the flower. Some objects even change the color of the light, as flowers only bloom when their colored light is near them. This game was quite immersive and relaxing. Just looking at a tool will select it and then you can move it with a controller to put it into place. Sometimes you need to pull objects closer to you so that you can make the light go the correct way. I very much enjoyed this VR experience.
The GamesBooster Booth in the Indie Room had four amazing games featured on it. I really loved all of the games there, but specifically will talk about the one that I played the most; Super Helmets on Fire DX Ultra Edition Plus Alpha.
Super Helmets on Fire DX Ultra Edition Plus Alpha
Super Helmets on Fire DX Ultra Edition Plus Alpha is a super challenging runner that has you defeating awesome bosses. In the version presented at Rezzed, you played as a construction man who is trying to save people falling from the buildings! You must dodge pipes, jump on top of wrecking balls, slide under scaffolding, and try to run into people to save them. Dotted around the level are cans of energy drink that will allow you to fart for an extra jump, giving you a sort of safety net. Once you have run through a large area, a giant egyptian sphinx is there to battle you. You must continue running, collecting hammers to throw at the sphinx to destroy him. When battling, you will have a break from running to breathe and focus on dodging the sphinx attack. Then you must slam your hammer into his face before starting to run off again! I was unable to beat the boss in this runner, but had a hell of a good time trying!
Candy Ghosts is a board game - soon to be PC game - where you are looking to defeat ghosts with your friends. At Rezzed, I played the board game edition of this awesome indie game. You and your friends each pick a character, which comes with a few different characteristics like shy, coward, pet lover, tall, etc. A dungeon is set up for you to explore, though all of the cards, objects, and ghosts are not seen. You must go into a room to explore it, using the number of steps your character gets. When you go into a new room, you are able to flip over the floor card, pick the orientation, and see the object that is in the room. Objects like tea cups can be thrown to attract ghosts, low ceilings can bar tall people from going in on their first turn in the room, for example. After you and your friends have moved, they must roll to find where ghosts will appear. In this board game, ghost tokens are made from candy that you can then capture and eat. Once you have captured a ghost by rolling next to it, you can keep it on your player card to use for reviving a player or use it to kill another ghost. After the end of each round the atmosphere also has the ability to change. With the ability to kill ghosts and eat their sugary bodies, this board game is quite appealing!
There were many more awesome games at Rezzed that I got the chance to play. Honestly, with the variety of unique and fun games at Rezzed this year, I could talk about the games I saw for days.
Playstation VR
I also got the opportunity to check out the Playstation VR.First off, the Playstation VR is quite customisable. Every aspect of the headset can be moved or changed to fit your head very easily. The glasses portion of the headset can be moved closer to your face, or farther away, even angled upwards or downwards depending on what is more comfortable to you. The strap area of the headset can also be adjusted to securely fit onto your head perfectly. Paired with the Playstation Move, to be your hands, this felt right.
I was able to play the London Heist - my demo had me escaping with all of the cash after a heist. My partner is driving the getaway van, I am riding passenger, as enemies come up and start attacking me! Using the Playstation Move, I could easy move my hands around and play with all of the objects in the car I was in. The dashboard opened up, soda cans could be thrown out of the window or passed the driver (who reacts to stuff being thrown at him), ammo could be discovered, and the radio can be turned on, all using the trigger to grip. After a small amount of time, allowing me to get used to the controls, my windscreen was smashed in. My partner, the other driver, handed me a gun and the shooting started. I was to shoot at the tires of motorbikes shooting back or kill enemies who were shooting from vans. When my ammo ran out, I was able to grab more and press the Playstation Moves together to load the gun. This action felt real and correct, adding to the immersion of the game. At one point, I discovered you could lean out of your car window, shooting at things behind you. This game seemed very real - the comfortable chairs that Playstation provided even felt like the seat of a car that you were leaning out of. At one point, the car took a sharp turn, and my body moved with it - even though I was sat in place, I moved where I expected the car to go. Everything was so realistic, the experience was very, very amazing.
I also went to the BAFTA Games Awards! These awards were hosted by Dara Ó’Briain, a comedian and television presenter in the UK. The individual awards were presented to their winners, in each category, by many individuals that have a part in the industry; from other developers, actors, streamers, and more. Ticket holders had the chance to walk the red carpet into the event, spend some time having pre-award drinks at the bar, before the big award ceremony. Many games nominated (most of which I had only heard of, but not played) were presented to the audience before they announced the winner for each category. Seeing these amazing, unique, breathtaking games that have been made in the last year really showed the potential of gaming. It was quite spectacular seeing indie games beat out bigger titles and hold their own in the industry.
My experience at Rezzed was brilliant. This was just a small look into all of the games, events, and experiences I got to enjoy. I was able to meet so many awesome people and have a fantastic time with each of them. This concludes my EGX Rezzed experience.
#EGX #Rezzed #SnakePass #KnifeToMeetYou #Vignettes #NotCoD #ElectricLullaby #CarpeLucem #GamesBooster #SuperHelmetsonFireDXUltraEditionPlusAlpha #CandyGhosts #Playstation #VR #Bafta #awards
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