You won’t recognise Psyonix head Dave Hagewood in Nosgoth’s announcement trailer – nobody recognises game developers on account of the Somebody Else’s Problem fields they all employ to ensure they can get some bloody work done without distraction. But you might remember the things he’s worked on: Bulletstorm, Homefront, Gears of War, and Unreal Tournament 2004’s Onslaught mode. An odd choice to front the next entry in Crystal Dynamics’ vampiric action-adventure series, wouldn’t you say?
Well: Nosgoth isn’t a traditional Kain game, but something else entirely. You’d better come and see.
Nosgoth is a free-to-play multiplayer combat game, in which the combat takes very different forms for each of its two sides.
In this human-vampire war, the humies have their bows and hunting traps, while the undead can make like Ezio all over the environment, before homing in on jugulars from above. Like this:
“We’re obviously making a different kind of game than usual for Legacy of Kain,” says Bill Beacham, design director at Square Enix. “We really hope players will be able to appreciate experiencing this world from a different perspective.”
“We made the decision to go to free-to-play to break down barriers and let as many players into the game as possible,” reads a statement. “One of the key goals has been to create a fair experience that doesn’t penalise players who don’t spend money in the game, as such Nosgoth doesn’t include items, weapons or abilities that are inherently better (aka supremacy goods).”
Fans of the series will find it ever so slightly galling to learn that Nosgoth grew out of a multiplayer mode from a cancelled, fully-fledged Legacy of Kain sequel. But do you think you can give this here new thing a shot?
Visit the official site for a chance at the closed beta.