Frame rate drops are always frowned upon, but when it comes to larger-than-life kaiju games like the upcoming BeastLink, we take an exception.
Fans of the Earth Defense Force franchise (EDF! EDF!) will know that dev Sandlot hasn’t done its job properly if the gameplay doesn’t plunge to 10fps, and we feel similarly about Grove Street Games’ just-announced online effort.
The trailer certainly shows positive signs, as it crumbles under the weight of its own unprecedented ambition.
We’re being facetious, of course, but there is a pinch of truth to what we’re saying. There’s just something satisfying about watching a game’s frame rate collapse, as it throws tons of complicated physics effects on the screen.
By the way, you may recall Grove Street Games contributing to the ill-fated GTA Trilogy remasters. Its work’s since been erased from the Rockstar re-releases, and that’s freed it up to focus on this undeniably intriguing effort.
Here’s its pitch:
“BeastLink is a brand new experience where humans, vehicles, and colossal Beasts collide in fully destructible cities at unprecedented scale. Fight your way through war-torn urban cities, amass the coveted serum, and use it to Link with towering Beasts, each with unique abilities and combat styles. Play as both human and beast across multiple game modes solo or with other players. Deploy vehicles like cars, helicopters, tanks and aircrafts to unleash chaos, bringing everything crashing down. The stronger your Link grows, the more power you command… and the more it threatens to consume you.”
The dev’s touting a new destruction technology named, er, SuperDestruction, which will allow you to reduce the urban game world to dust.
This looks and sounds like a mixture of the aforementioned Earth Defense Force, overlooked Capcom shooter Exoprimal, and, say, Kaiju No 8 to us. Minus all of the post-carnage clean-ups, anyway.
An early access release is planned for the summer, with a PS5 launch to follow. Those of you who play on PC will be able to sign up for a closed beta test, which is scheduled to get underway later this week, on 8th May.
We know multiplayer games are a tough sell these days, but we kinda like the throwback PS2 presentation of this and the janky, over-the-top kaiju combat. It could be worth keeping an eye on.
What are your thoughts on this giant monster slaying online multiplayer game? Let us know below.
