Upcoming shooter Echo Point Nova is a blend of Titanfall and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater; that’s the only way I can think to describe it and do it any semblance of justice. An FPS game all about incredibly fast movement, I got to try out the game and chat with the lead developer ahead of the demo’s release, and it could quite easily be one of the coolest games of this year.
An upcoming shooter from Severed Steel developer Greylock Studio, I got to try Echo Point Nova for PCGamesN ahead of the imminent demo release on Steam, and I can easily say it’s shaping up to be one of the most frenetic and enjoyable FPS titles on the market.
With a demo coming later this month and a full release by the end of the year, Echo Point Nova is all about moving fast and feeling incredible while doing it. Between a double jump, slow motion ability, an array of weapons, and even a grapple and skateboard (don’t worry, we’ll get to that), there’s a lot on offer that makes traversal and combat an absolute treat that works seamlessly.
As an avid fan of games with great movement like Titanfall, Mirror’s Edge, Doom Eternal, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Echo Point Nova is extremely my thing. It takes a hot minute to get used to, but as soon as you unlock all your main abilities and remap them to how you see fit (I opted for the grapple and skateboard on my extra mouse buttons) everything starts to click.
I was skating into buildings at high speed and grinding on the walls while shooting guys, then grappling to the other side of the room and engaging with the slow-motion mechanic in mid-air to pop off headshots. With a visual flair somewhat similar to Superhot and the frantic shooting and slowdown of Vanquish, Echo Point Nova dragged me down into its ideas, and I don’t want to climb back out.
Lead developer and designer Matt Larrabee tells PCGamesN that Echo Point Nova was actually “inspired by Breath of the Wild” of all things, as the initial idea revolved around a game set outdoors in a huge open world.
That’s right, this is actually an open-world game where you’ll be traveling between fights in big open areas and more condensed buildings, using your skateboard to grind across walls while grappling around corners and readying your shotgun. Oh, Echo Point Nova also supports up to four-player co-op, so you can shred the slopes and shoot some bad guys with your friends too.
Apart from the unlikely BotW inspiration, Larrabee says that “things like the hoverboard, grapple hook, and overall feel just kind of came together over time as I addressed design issues and tried to keep adding more fun in.”
Games based around movement like Echo Point Nova also have one major thing in common – players always try to break them. This is something Larrabee and the team are acutely aware of, telling me that “you should be able to skip sections and do things I don’t expect without breaking the experience.” Larrabee is looking also “forward to seeing how people will break and speedrun it. A big reason I want to do a demo is to see what people discover and make new design decisions around that.”
Coming from a team of just four, Echo Point Nova could already be a top-tier movement shooter that’ll fill that Titanfall 3-shaped hole in your heart. If you do end up giving the demo a chance though, you’ll see that it’s already shaping up to be so much more than how I’ve managed to describe it.
According to Larrabee, the demo should be launching on Monday, July 19, 2023 with a full release slated for later this year. You can check out Echo Point Nova over on Steam.
With Echo Point Nova ticking off quite a few boxes, you’ll also want to check out the very best multiplayer games and co-op games while you wait, as I’m sure anything in these two genres will keep you busy in the meantime.
