EGX Rezzed 2017: Day One – London Bound

While a lot of the gaming community in the UK is familiar with the big EGX show held at the NEC in Birmingham, some may not know about the smaller, but just as important, EGX Rezzed event which is held at Tobacco Dock in the heart of London’s Docklands. This younger sibling to the main show only showcases indie games and is fantastic for finding and experiencing the best indie titles the UK and Europe (and some from further afar) have to offer. This event started on March 30th until April 1st.

I attended the event for GameSkinny and I was not disappointed. Although this first day was largely taken up by interviews and meet and greets, there were some definite game highlights.

Victor Vran – Motörhead: Through the Ages

The mighty mechanical Snaggletooth

Some readers may already be familiar with Haemimont Games RPG Victor Vran, but what you might not be aware of is their collaboration with the legendary rock band Motörhead. The new game content was in development even before the band’s frontman Lemmy Kilmister tragic death in 2015 after losing his battle with cancer.

The Motörhead: Through the Ages content focuses on artwork and music from the band as well as including a story revolving around Lemmy and the band iconic mascot the Snaggletooth. The new levels and content created around Motörhead’s legacy is certainly hard-hitting and loud but will please any heavy metal fans.

For players who already have the original Victor Vran will not have to purchase the new DLC but once released this DLC will be available through the Overkill Edition and will be accessible through the game’s Steam page.

The Town of Light

Why are creepy dolls synonymous with asylums?

In a day and age where the horror genre is pushing the boundaries, trying to find new ways to scare us and to make us jump or cringe, there are not many games out there that solely rely on atmosphere to put the chills up our backs. Italian developers LKA have produced the wonderfully chilling The Town of Light, a psychological story-driven adventure.

The game tells the story of a teenager called Reneé who is trying to piece together her past as she battles with symptoms of mental illness. The game sees her return to the Volterra Psychiatric Asylum where she grew up in Tuscany, Italy. There is no combat, no jump scares and no monsters in the game. All of the creepy atmospheric feelings come from the grim surroundings, real early 1900s medical illustrations and medical equipment and from excerpts of Reneé’s memories.

My lasting memory of this game will always be that it is based on a real place and masses of research was done by the game’s developers to truly bring the game to life. They visited the asylum in Tuscany and mapped the entire compound to get a realistic representation of the place in-game. The game is also littered with copies of real medical journals, paintings and newspaper articles from the time the asylum was in operation.

The Town of Light is currently available through Steam and is also available on Xbox One and PS4.

Battalion 1944

Time to answer the call to arms!

Those headed to EGX Rezzed this year got the chance to play a World Exclusive which is being published by the Square Enix Collective. Battalion 1944 is being developed by Bulkhead Interactive, the studio responsible for the popular puzzler The Turing Test.

This brand new game is an “old school” multiplayer World War 2 FPS which has been inspired by the WW2 shooters from the past years and hopes to propel the genre to a new audience. At the event, gamers had the chance to go head to head in a 4vs4 deathmatch in one of the games urban maps. There is currently no definite release date but the game will be available on Steam, Xbox One and PS4.

So this first day may not have been filled with a lot actual gaming but the games that I did play, these highlights and others, really did set the bar for the weekend ahead. Make sure you check out my other articles to see what other gaming delights I found.