Opinions on this title are based on the demo, not the full release so it’s all subject to change.
G-Police was one of my roster of games I’d replay back in the late 90s back when the concept of travelling around a 3D representation of a future city in a heavily armed flying police jet thing was a thrill. Turns out, it still is, and given a fresh coat of pain and a shiny new engine, the concept is just as engaging.
G-Rebels (developed and published by Reakktor Studios and Senatis respectivly) is the spiritual successor to G-Police. The big G at the start gives that away, but so does the gameplay. You are a pilot of a Skyblade, and it is your joy to police the skies in a cyberpunk megacity.
The mechanics of play are pretty simple. Moving about in your vehicle is quite reactive and snappy, and the operation of it is rather easy to grasp. You can boost, scan, shoot, and… well that’s about it. There are upgrade trees available for the various parts and modifications for your Skyblade, and a variety of activities.
With it being in such early development, there is little to say in regard to the meat of the game, and the story, but its safe to say that dogfighting is going to the be primary thing. Racing is available, and you can bounty hunt too, but most of the features are still being worked on.
Visually, the explorable space within the demo is terrifically detailed, with cars visible on the highways, other airships populating the sky, and thousands of lit windows and hundreds of neon adverts adorning the towering skyscrapers. The atmosphere is good, as are the weather effects, as well as the soundtrack and effects.
Overall there is a lot of potential here, and its good to see a game like this being made, but it’s a long way off being finished. I crashed multiple times, and the performance was a little poor - although this is expected given the fact that it’s not been fully released yet. The worst thing however isn’t how the game feels to play, but the practices of the developer. According to the game’s Steam page, they utilise AI to generate voices, which is a load of shit. It’s possible they are just a temporary measure while they source real life voice actors, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. They should have just stuck with subtitles if that were the case, as any AI use to usurp creative roles is pretty much inexcusable in my eyes. The gameplay itself is promising, but their developers practices are less than inspirational in this regard.
Overall, I had fun with what little there is to play in the demo, but it’s clearly a work in progress - that’s no problem, as that’s partly what a demo is for, to get a taste of the experience. Their use of AI is a bit of a red flag though. Worth checking in on in the future, as hopefully their generated content will have been replaced by the work of real people. Time will tell. While you’re here, check out previous Next Fest posts, perhaps you’ll find something that has passed you by!
Also, a big thank you to the TYPEDBYTOM Patreon/BMAC supporter(s) this month.