Five of the best things at Rezzed 2018

Some of the best finds at the Indie focused conference

Five of the best things at Rezzed 2018

The annual premier London games event returned to the Tobacco Docks last week, bringing with it a tide of pre-release games and demos. Although there is a presence from big budget studios, the focus is definitely more on indie platforms. 

It is always interesting to see how gaming trends shift. There are still a number of games that are using the Minecraft formula of gathering and crafting, although they go some way to provide a compelling story to liven the formula up. Roguelike games are still popular, although I did notice that we seem to slowly be shifting away from 16-bit graphics again, which I personally view as a relief. I think it opens the door to more creative thinking, indeed one game on this list is completely handmade, and another has just a HUD and no graphics at all. 

With that, here are five of the most interesting or exciting things I stumbled upon while at Rezzed 2018. 

OnRush

Does anyone else get misty-eyed when looking back on games like Burnout. I know at least one team of people have the same feeling of nostalgia, as Codemasters are working to bring a game out that uses the franchise as inspiration.

OnRush is a racing game with no finish line. Instead you are on one of two teams of racers working together to gain the most points, or have more time remaining at the end of a run. You achieve this by using boosts, rush and takedowns to obliterate your enemies on multilayered tracks. And if you do get totalled? Don’t worry - you respawn right in the mix ready to get revenge. 

Harold Halibut: A handmade adventure game

I only managed to briefly catch Harold Halibut but already I’m in love with it’s beautiful design, eerie atmosphere and completely handmade set pieces and characters.

Yes, you read that right, all the characters and pieces in the game are handmade, and then digitally scanned and used to build up a videogame world. 

Titular character Harold Halibut is a janitor abroad an ark-like spaceship that is wrecked upon an unknown aquatic planet. One of the scientists aboard the ship believes they can relaunch the ship, and enlists you to help in the cause. The game brags about a self-reflective humour, and the trailer certainly had me laughing. 

http://haroldhalibut.com/

Above

Selected to be part of the Leftfield Collection, Above is an aerial action adventure that weaves the cathartic dream fulfilment of soaring among the clouds with discovering and defeating the evil beneath the waves in pursuit of your brother. 

Although the demo I played was quite bare bones, it was immediately obvious that Above has the potential to be something special. Speaking to the developer he explained they wanted to create a game that gave players the freedom to explore if they wanted, but not force them into a 50 or 60 hour commitment of monotonous grinding. 

It’s very much something I can imagine coming home to after a long day and just flying for the sake of it, looking at the beautiful scenery below.

http://play-above.com/

Homo Machina

Fritz Kahn was a Berlin based gynaecologist and science writer, and is famed for his use of visual analogies and metaphors for describing the human body in Das Leben des Menschen (The Life of Man). In it, he detailed how the human body worked through the use of infographics, as well as comparisons between the body and various machines. 

Homa Machina is a love letter to Kahn’s work, giving you control over the various mechanical aspects of the human body, from opening the eyes to chewing food and assigning taste. 

It even has a story! The body you are in control of is going on a date tonight and your inner monologue keeps proposing ways to cancel, which I’m sure we can all relate to. 

http://www.homomachina-game.com/

Blind Driving

You’re in a car. It’s dark. Really dark. You have a blindfold on. The phone rings. 

“Drive”.

Still blindfolded, you have to swerve oncoming traffic by listening to establish what side the car is coming from. Every so often your antagonist calls back with cheesy dialogue and introducing further challenges, like closing the window or requiring you to hit cyclists to get health back.

It felt somewhat macabre to enjoy this as much as I did, but I quickly got over that, and it was by far one of my favourite experiences at Rezzed. 

http://blinddrivegame.com/ 

Extra: Eurogamer interview with Tim Schafer

Monkey Island, Full Throttle, Psychonauts - they all have one thing in common. Well, maybe many, but TIm Schafer is certainly a big influence, and he spoke to Eurogamer’s Oli Walsh about his time at LucasArts, his studio Double Fine Productions and perhaps the slightest bit of remorse over the decision to incorporate tank controls into his games!

Author

Tom Inniss

Tom Inniss Voice Team

Tom is the Editor of Voice. He is a politics graduate and holds a masters in journalism, with particular interest in youth political engagement and technology. He is also a mentor to our Voice Contributors, and champions our festivals programme, including the reporter team at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

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1 Comments

  • Luke Taylor

    On 23 April 2018, 09:59 Luke Taylor Contributor commented:

    Woooo! More games to play :D

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