In addition, you also learn about various smaller stories through the clients you talk to, and in many cases your choices (or performance) can affect the narrative. You have your own reasons for taking on these clandestine jobs, mostly because you have debts to pay off, but it doesn’t take long before you get sucked into a larger narrative full of conspiracies and danger. ![]() Gameplay centers around protagonist Rania, who works for a delivery company called Cloudpunk and pilots her hover-car around the city to perform jobs, no questions asked. It was about the atmosphere and culture of Neo Tokyo, and Cloudpunk takes a similar approach – though it exchanges Neo Tokyo for the city of Nivalis. We played the PS4 version of the game, and it was a good reminder that Blade Runner, the iconic benchmark for a lot of media that came after, wasn’t action-oriented either. And while CD Projekt Red’s take on the genre is full of gritty and visceral action, Cloudpunk relies a lot more on mood and atmosphere. Having been released on PC earlier, Cloudpunk by Ion Lands arrives on consoles just before Cyberpunk 2077 is unleashed upon gamers next month. The gameplay is fun, but matches start blending together too soon and I definitely wish we had some more variety in the arenas. They can’t hide the fact that Hyperbrawl Tournament feels like something that could be the foundation for a larger, more varied game. ![]() This ability was frequently used in promotional videos for the game to the point where it seemed like it would be an unfair way to play by just spamming it, but they’re harder to pull off than you’d think so ultimately they’re satisfying when it works. You also have access to “hypercurve”, which is the ability to curve throws around obstacles and opponents. In-game, you can supercharge the action by activating “hypermode”, which essentially makes your player faster and stronger for a brief period of time. I say “a little”, because even though some arena’s obstacles that make it harder to throw a ball into the opposing goal or pass it to a teammate, the arenas are ultimately too small to offer much variety in terms of their shape and layout. There’s a good selection to choose from, and a range of different arenas makes sure that the experience feels a little different each time you play. Further customization can be achieved with your weapon selection, which determines which special ability you take into the upcoming match with you. While some attributes are character-specific, the roster is roughly divided into three character classes – one emphasizing speed, another brute force, with a more well-rounded option as your third choice. You get to choose a potential hero from a dozen characters on the roster, and different combinations of players bring different strengths and weaknesses to the team you select. Hyperbrawl Tournament features a silly narrative that revolves around an ancient quest to find heroes that have to prove themselves in a future sports tournament first, but ultimately all of that just boils down to a reason to have 2 on 2 matches in small arenas with gameplay that somewhat resembles Speedball – a futuristic and violent version of handball. It made a good first impression though, since the videos and screenshots reminded me of the classic Atari ST and Amiga classic Speedball II by the Bitmap Brothers. There are a few titles on the platform that caught my eye early, and Beyond a Steel Sky is the most prominent one, but I didn’t notice Milky Tea Studios’ arena sports brawler until it was announced it was coming to consoles (and PCs). I’ll readily admit that Hyperbrawl Tournament passed me by when it originally launched on Apple Arcade last year. Time for us to look into three brand new console ports of indie releases, with Hyperbrawl Tournament, Cloudpunk and Macrotis: A Mother’s Journey all appearing on consoles this week after earlier stints on PC and Apple Arcade.
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