Multiplayer co-op shooters like Left 4 Dead, Deep Rock Galactic, and GTFO certainly can feel like they’re a dime a dozen, but perhaps the setting and the pedigree behind the upcoming shooter The Anacrusis will perk some ears.
For one thing, the game is set in a retro-futurist world where four unlikely survivors must work together to face an onslaught of deadly alien hordes. The gameplay reads very similarly to L4D, but the Steam page touts an AI Driver feature that handles spawning and behavior for enemies, bosses, weapons, and items, all of which promises to provide “the perfect level of challenge” for every skill level, as well as full mod support. Naturally, there will also be a variety of guns to shoot and items to deploy, from laser rifles and traditional-looking ballistic weapons to respawners to gravity grenades.
For another thing, the game comes from developer Stray Bombay, which features former Riot Games designer Kimberly Voll and former Valve writer Chet Faliszek, whose writing credits include some of Valve’s most famous titles including Portal, Half-Life 2, and Left 4 Dead. An interview with Faliszek provides a little more context for the upcoming game, including word that the game will release with small replayable co-op missions followed by free episodic chunks, confirmation that the game will feature cross-platform play from day one, and further details on how the AI Driver will analyze player prowess through multiple levels within an episode as well as weeks and months of play.
The Anacrusis is set to arrive sometime this fall, releasing on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Steam, Windows Store, Epic Games Store, and Game Pass. The reveal trailer for the game can be seen below.
