Look, I get it–three dimensions can be hard sometimes. So what if the same developer behind the Shadow Warrior franchise decided to be an isometric top-down looter shooter with a very Borderlands-y aesthetic?
Then you'd get Space Punks, an upcoming title courtesy of Flying Wild Hog and RuneScape developer Jagex. These two have paired up to bring us a game that mashes quite a few games together into a sci-fi co-op RPG with a lot of attitude.
We'll get the Borderlands references out of the way first since there's really no way to avoid them. Sci-fi? Cel-shaded aesthetic? A main character who's described as "the handsome one" and bears more than a passing resemblance to Borderlands 2's Handsome Jack? Yeah, all that just screams Borderlands.
Even the pig character seems like a Russian version of Salvador thanks to his akimbo stance, stout stature, and distinctive hairstyle. The alien character looks a lot like the Eridian guardians from Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and Borderlands 3, and a ninja-warrior woman with crazy magic powers seems fairly Siren-like.
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Throw in some color-coded loot and there’s a definite argument to be made that Space Punks is a top-down shooter version of Borderlands. But the isometric angle also makes it look a lot like Diablo 3, and the twin-stick shooter mechanics makes it seem even more like Helldivers.
Part of the reason we're doing so much comparison is that the trailer–while making good use of Offspring's "Original Prankster"–doesn't really tell us much about the game. There's going to be loot, explosions, different weapons like swords, shotguns, pistols, and machine guns, various cosmetic skins to apply to all four main characters, and character-specific abilities that seem to generate yet more explosions.
Flying Wild Hog describes Space Punks as having "a living, breathing, and ever-changing game world," but doesn't go into details beyond the trailer's hordes of aliens and robots.
The good news is we won't have to wait long to find out more. Space Punks is coming to PC early access on July 14 ahead of an open beta later this winter. Console versions will be coming sometime in 2022. Details on that open beta and early access are likely to come first via the game's Discord and Twitter.
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