“And if anyone was worried, yes, there will be white doves in the game.” That’s Anders Flodihn, co-founder of Vreski Games, referring to legendary Hong Kong action director John Woo’s avian calling card. If the recent trailer is anything to go by, The Hong Kong Massacre isn’t shy about its influences, but when your game looks like the sort of alcoholic nightmare Max Payne might have after binge-watching Woo’s entire oeuvre and then speedrunning Hotline Miami, why try to hide it?
“We wanted to make the shotgun feel as powerful as possible, it shoots five shots each time so you hit a lot of stuff all the time.” says an early dev blog. You really know how to make a guy feel special, Vreski Games. I know, ascendant medium and interactive narrative possibilities and go away David Cage this is my preview, but if you’re going to base your game around shooting dudes, a shotgun that hits a lot of stuff all the time is pretty much the Sistine Chapel of artistic milestones. I am excited in ways I am not entirely comfortable with.
Graceful Brutality
Featuring twin-stick shooting, bullet time and impressive physics and lighting to recreate the balletic gunplay of the movies it pays homage to, The Hong Kong Massacre is due for release on PC, Mac, Linux and PS4 sometime in 2018. You can find more coverage of the stuff we liked best from PGW 2017, including the stunning The Gardens Between, here on Cliqist.
