It is difficult to decide where to start talking about the Agents of Mayhem, a new IP from the Game Developer Volition, which developed Saints Row.
In places it certainly seems familiar, but if taken as a whole, to describe it in the usual sense is difficult. It uses elements of multiplayer shooters in single format borrows the aesthetics of “Pixar”, combining it with a completely nepiksarovskim content, and, in addition, adds to this open-world action game with RPG-component, allowing for a long time engaged in pumping hero. That is, even now: it feels like all I do is just compose on the fly.
But I’m not making this up: I actually played in the Agents of Mayhem, and it is really out of the way – in a good way.
Mayhem In the center is a triple agents, of which you have to choose from a range of characters. In my case, the choice of four were proposed, and one had to be left behind. I have carefully considered the tabs on them the data contained far more information than I expected.
A variety of weapons for passive skills skills and slots have their own modifications that can change the behavior of the characters, most of the equipment to be filled gadgets, and a large set of amplifiers that are unique to each character, immediately forced to go into details. I decided that I should do the calculations later, after I smash somebody’s skull.
And that’s what I was engaged, the first agent is selected from Hollywood, the former reality TV star with a characteristic square jaw. Its armament, consisting of an assault rifle and grenade pendant seemed universal and understandable at a glance.
Although these devices and familiar look, the way they use seems to have not too traditional. Every shot grenade accompanied by an equally explosive indecent movements of the hips and Mayhem-ability Hollywood (local analog “ultimates”) turns all around in a kind of film by Michael Bay: around something explodes and the hero tirelessly scribbling of his machine gun with infinite store. All this fun, stylish and fun … that applies to the Agents of Mayhem as a whole
Hollywood is good on all sides; I have no problems with the first wave of enemies, which I came looking for the entrance to the enemy hideout. But when the hero was to be a little health, I decided to switch to a shotgun armed Rusk to Hollywood could rest and regain some health.
And I did not have to regret. Although open urban spaces seem to be not the best place to use the shotgun, the problem was resolved through teleports Rusk harpoon. Enough to run this thing in standing aloof sniper, and you’re standing in front of him, burying his nose in the muzzle of the shotgun, except that «Get over here» missing.
The last member of my team was Fortuna, a former air pirate. When firing it uses two automatic pistols, and helps her cute drone air GLORY, signals a stun, which can quickly finish.
Ability to “quicksand” allows Fortuna to create an area in which the enemies move slower, but if someone from the stun them, then it will remain so until the end of the effect. “Sands” perfectly complement the Mayhem character, ability, during which she sends GLORY stun enemies. As soon as the robot performs a task, use the right and ability to be straightened with eternity immobilized opponents.
It should be noted that I have not once thought of these combos. In fact, my first skirmishes in the streets of a futuristic Seoul were pretty dull. Mechanics underlying the Agents of Mayhem, seem so familiar and intuitive that I automatically started to run around the customary manner of enemies and shoot them.
The good of it was not enough, the default in the demo was exhibited not easy difficulty, and I had better go into my team’s capabilities. Still, nice to do something familiar at the time of how you try to understand all the intricacies of the new.
You can seamlessly switch between characters at any time, even during some animations attack, and it can give a lot of advantages, and I still only managed to make this first impression. In one passage, I decided to take instead of Hollywood armed with bow and able to set traps Ramah, and realized how useful to switch between characters.
I installed next to each other explosives, switched to Rusk and using harpoon teleported some poor guy into a trap. Or he started to play for Fortuna, deafening drone of the enemy, and then by Rama, finished off the enemy with one shot.
The characters and their abilities – the brightest thing in the AoM, but not only do they distinguish the game from the typical action game with an open world. Perhaps you remember, I mentioned that at the beginning of the demo was looking for the enemy hideout.
Disposing of the multiple waves of attackers, I found him … opening unremarkable rubbish bin and find the switch, with which I was able to open a secret passage. In the final version of the game, such a shelter would be procedurally generated, and their location will be determined randomly.
They should be seen as a dungeon that you can find and clean up, a reason to continue the investigation of the world after the end of the story campaign.
