Rezzed 2014: Murasaki Baby, Broforce and More

2014 was my first experience of Rezzed, an event usually synonymous with indie gaming, particularly PC. However this year, especially with Sony showing its support for the indie market, it also served as a perfect showcase for some of the most anticipated console releases. Here are my picks of the weekend.

One title that is seriously making me consider buying a PS Vita is Murasaki Baby. Visually a twisted take on Tim Burton/Edward Gorey with a Limbo feel, Murasaki Baby was a delight throughout. Using the front touch screen to pull the little girl ‘Baby’ and her balloon along, as if you were holding her hand, the aim is to get through 4 worlds of monsters and obstacles, in order to find her mother. Murasaki Baby makes excellent use of both the Vita’s touch screens; the front to pull Baby forward or back when necessary, and the back screen serves to change the colour of the background with a swipe of 2 fingers.

These background screens alter the mood of Baby to tackle the different dangers and brings different abilities. She”ll will only walk when Green, but Red is used to scare off enemies with a tap on the screen, superbly bringing the background to life, turning everything into screaming monsters. There are other colours to obtain throughout, such as rain which is blue, and the learning curve is such that it’s left up to you to work out. Challenging, unnerving, and wonderfully quirky, Murasaki Baby may just have sold the Vita to me.

Another title I’ll be awaiting release for is Broforce (pictured above). A cross between Contra and Terraria, with fully destructible environments, Broforce is the ultimate 80’s and 90’s action hero homage shooter. Robocop, Die Hard, Rambo and even Chuck Norris are all referenced in this wonderfully fun piece of bullet hell action. Single player and multiplayer are on offer here, with the simple goal to destroy everyone and everything to get to the goal, with spectacular results. Immense fun, cannot wait for this one.

Over in the 18 section, hidden under dimmed lighting in a faraway corner of the expo, were 2 titles: The PS4 casino port of Shadow Warrior, and Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. The latter is shaping up nicely, its addictive blend of top-down brutal hardcore action and psychedelic textures looking and feeling well worth the wait. It worked particularly well on Vita, plus considering its difficulty curve also less embarrassing viewing than on the big screen.

The PS4-exclusive edition of last year’s PC release Shadow Warrior is also shaping up nicely. Brutal but equally hilarious, this FPS/S (shooter/slasher) often left many a long queue for a go. For me, I was completely sold on the protagonist singing along to Stan Bush’ ‘You’ve Got The Touch’ in the intro. Awesome.

So my first EGX experience was an excellent one. As you’d expect, queues and crowds were ever present for most games; one of which I was unfortunate to miss out on was Gang Beasts. Seeing four Jelly Baby style characters going toe-to-toe in a wrestling ring just looked hilarious fun. There was much more on offer too, proving that 2014 is going to be another great year for gaming. The event also left me incredibly torn as to what console I should buy next. Having had my first experiences of PS4, Xbox One and Vita. Whichever that may be, EGX Rezzed proved that all are in good hands in 2014.