REACTION - Velan Studios’ experimental approach with smaller new releases heralds the start of another exciting chapter
Mixing things up, yo.
By Jonathan Garrett
01/07/24
We fell in love with Velan’s Knockout City almost immediately, and it became a staple of our online adventures. The masterful blend of nuanced mechanics and iconic style left an indelible mark, so it was a forgone conclusion that we’d be keeping an eye on what was next. Turns out they’re ready to make it so [number one] by breaking off into smaller dev teams to get good ideas out sooner, even if the scope of each title is scaled back.
Take Midnight Murder Club, a six player multiplayer murder in the dark FPS that appears fairly rudimentary at first glance, but still contains that now signature Velan spark of not taking itself too seriously. Bounce Arcade, a first person pinball-esque VR title, is another step in a different direction, and a pleasing example of the studio’s willingness to diversify.
Both games are due out before the end of 2024, and I’m sure we can expect some kind of demo of public beta test in the weeks ahead. Velan themselves weren’t immune to industry layoffs, but they’re still forging ahead and we can’t wait to see how these games turn out. We’ll have more coverage later this year.
TARPS?
At the bottom of some of our articles, you’ll see a series of absurd looking images (with equally stupid, in joke laden names). These are the TARP badges, which represent our ‘Totally Accurate Rating Platform’. They allow us to identify specific things, recognise positive or negative aspects of a games design, and generally indulge our consistent silliness with some visual tomfoolery.
