Everything about Ren Hu: Rebel Yell, from the “bitstream” art style to the cheesy guitar music, screams throwback. “Throwback” games certainly aren’t for everyone, but who doesn’t love a great beat em’ up? Ren Hu, developed by Lethal Games, is a “hardcore strategic” brawler featuring flashy punch and kick combos that promises to “challenge even the most skilled players.”
There are a bevy of attack options listed in the Kickstarter overview, from “normal” attacks to “stun” attacks and “extremely powerful Limit Attacks” which are unlocked by recovering, uh, “Level Guitars” in the maps. What exactly “Level Guitars” are remains to be unveiled, but I’m thinking they probably have something to do with the cheesy guitar music.
Attacks vary in power and characteristics based on an energy meter which fills up over time (anybody else thinking Mortal Kombat’s ex meter?), but what I find most unique about the combat is the fact that enemies can be resistant to some attacks and even parry them.
The story of Ren Hu is rooted in philosophical themes such as neo-darwinism, ultra-liberalism, and personal liberty, with four different endings which vary based on player choice. It’ll be interesting to see how those heavy intellectual concepts tie-in with the frenetic combat and old-school vibe of Ren Hu. The campaign launched on Kickstarter only a few days ago, and is asking for €25,750. A playable demo is downloadable on the Kickstarter site and is available for Linux, Mac and Windows (although the devs warn that only the Windows version has undergone “extensive testing”).
You can track Ren Hu: Rebel Yell’s Kickstarter progress on our Campaign Calendar.
