From its towering bodged-together murderous junk-bots to its weird saw-wheeled bikes and its alternate dieselpunk 1940s setting, Steel Rats, launched at this time, is an odd beast. An uncommon vehicular motion game from Tate Multimedia, half shooter, half platformer, half stunt racer. Players management a biker gang, battling robots throughout a ruined America, free to drive wherever (together with partitions and ceilings) ‘cos they’ve obtained huge saw-blades for wheels. I’m nonetheless not totally certain how this works physics-wise, however it’s cool so I’ll give it a cross. Rev up for the launch trailer under.
I’ve not performed the launch model of Steel Rats, however I obtained to play a bit at Rezzed early this 12 months. Its bikes directly felt a bit of floaty within the air, however heavy on floor, and there’s numerous buttons used, thanks to every biker (appearing as additional lives) having their very own talents. I solely felt like I used to be attending to grips with the bizarre controls by the point I’d completed my demo session, however I felt the spark of one thing particular there. Or perhaps I’m simply bizarre and have a factor for odd management setups – I contemplate Gunvalkyrie on the OG Xbox to be an underrated gem, so take me with a pinch of salt.
It’s the sort of bizarre, technical game that I are likely to get pleasure from as soon as I’ve had just a few hours to mess around with them. Tate Multimedia have some expertise with motorcycle-themed games earlier than, with their (admittedly slightly bland) Urban Trials sequence, however this looks like an altogether completely different beast. If something, it jogs my memory most of Hello Games’s (sure, the No Man’s Sky folks) Joe Danger, plus some killer robots. It’s an often artistic idea from prime to backside – right here’s hoping at this time’s launch performs pretty much as good because it seems to be.
Steel Rats is out now on Steam for £13.59/€16.99/$16.99
