We got the chance to sit down with the creators of Earthfall this past week as the team ran demos. This co-op survival game has been making waves on Steam. The team is flattered by the comparisons to Left 4 Dead which had its last release in 2011. It was time to reinvigorate the fast-paced survival genre and Earthfall is the game to do it.
The game takes place in the Northwest of the U.S. it is a time when aliens have invaded and are sweeping across the world. You are among a group of survivors who were left after the asteroid hit. If that was not bad enough, no one expected the alien brood to come out of the asteroid in a devastating attack. The storyline is strong in Earthfall. You begin the game just trying to stay alive and gather resources with your team. As the game moves forward, you will head to over towns and try to find weapons, survivors, and clues about the attack. The team wanted to make sure that a heavy narrative led the players through the action. All the alien bashing is fun but tying it to an interesting idea makes the game stand apart. Eventually you will take the fight to the aliens with your crew.
The game takes place with near future technology to bring in some fun ideas for players to build around. It maintains a first-person shooter model with the crew at Holospark were intent to maintain. They feel it is the best game mode for this genre. You can mix alien and human technology to make weird hybrid weapons when in a fight and you are going to need them.
The action is extremely fast-paced. Holospark wants to modernize this amazing game genre and bring up to speed for a new group of fans. You can play with four players as a team or play solo. Friends can join your game throughout though if they come online. There are some new features to how you complete a map. Earthfall is based around objectives and not just fighting hordes of aliens. You are moving from town to town on a journey that follows certain checkpoints. This gives a sense of achievement to the group and helps with the story.
The weaponry does include some new mechanics like grenades and sights for guns. Teams can also work on choke points to really maximize their time. When aliens are barreling down on you, you may need that extra fifteen or twenty-five seconds to set up your attack quickly. Keep maps open was important to the team but having there be spots where players can line them up a special treat for fans of the genre.
Holospark wants to bring as much value to the game as they can. Currently, there are six boss fights including a nasty Beast, an ape-like alien. There is also Black-out who looks like a squid in armor. These fights all work with a heavy AI making sure players are constantly on their toes when they battle it out.
Earthfall has a lot more to come as it plans for console. The team is working right now on player feedback to create the best mechanics and bring more ideas back into the survival action genre. Check out Earthfall on Steam when you get the chance.
