Where am I? Show me more of this world? These were my thoughts as I played through the very short demo of Out of Place. The game is being developed by Bagpack Games based in Hamburg, Germany. They’re a small indie studio working on their first project but from the looks of it, you wouldn’t know it because the demo absolutely shines. Out of Place has already won several awards and it’s still in development that’s how fantastic this game looks and feels.
The demo is short but it gets the game’s point across. That there’s much more than just a story to be told here. You are also getting some engaging action-packed gameplay that will make you think on your feet. This quickly becomes apparent in the demo as you come across a rather frustrating boss. But more about the boss later.
Where to begin
Let’s start at the beginning, where I was thrown into this strange but interesting world. I came across ruins, glowing paintings on walls, and bright orange plants, these were just a few of the signs that this place wasn’t quite right. But most interesting of all was the machine-like floating orb that was following me around. What the hell was it? I also had a cool glowing sword too but again how did I use this fantastic looking orb.
So it was time to get to work, and that meant just randomly pressing buttons. C’mon now, we’ve all done it. Even though the demo does offer a slight tutorial on the button layout, you’re still left a little in the dark as to what to do with the orb. But after some time it will become clear and if it doesn’t well, you are not going to complete the demo. As I made my way through the linear world I eventually came to some flying drones. This was my first time at combat, and to my surprise, it felt smooth and the controls responded well. I say this because so many indie titles just don’t get the controls tight and combat feeling good. Especially in a 3D game like Out of Place. After squashing the flying drones like a bug I moved on with my journey.
A short demo
And now let’s come back to that frustrating boss I mentioned before. He looks like a huge robotic three-leg cyborg spider thing. Oh yeah, he shoots lasers too. Quick tip, he’s not as difficult as he appears as long as you figure out how to use the orb to your advantage. And that involves understanding the symbols on the orb itself. I don’t want to give to much away because it’s a fun fight and you should download the demo and play it for yourself.
Never the less once you figure out how to take down the boss the demo ends rather quickly. But it gives you an idea of what your in for, and what combat should feel like. Most of all I’m curious about the world I was thrown into and look forward to exploring the game further. Because the demo was so short but good. One last note, I was rather impressed with what very little voice acting I did hear in the demo, and I hope they build on that more in the game.
About the game – developers description:
In Out of Place, emotion empowers gameplay. The avatar will show emotional reactions to his surroundings, the environment, and events. Our ambition is to emphasize the fantastic stories, stagings, and emotions of classic Spielberg movies: to tell a serious theme through an imaginative adventure of a teenage protagonist. The gameplay settles between combat-focused RPGs like Dark Souls and Action-Adventures such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. But Out of Place wants to break with conventional mechanics of these genres by establishing a more tactical feel and freedom of choice to the combat system as well as providing atmospheric parts where the protagonist can’t fight at all. Furthermore, it will transfer and expand the setting of classic 2D games like Heart of Darkness, Another World, Flashback, or The Way into an action-packed 3D game world while maintaining their typical atmosphere and game feel.
For more information or to download the demo visit: Steam
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