KingMakers
Full disclosure: I love third-person shooters more than any other iteration of the genre, and I’m a huge time-travel geek.
I put that statement out front so you can understand how Kingmakers, an as-yet-released third-person shooter on Steam dripping with time travel elements, made such a massive impression on me.
After watching the preview below, I’m beyond excited for this game to be released.
There’s always been something about seeing your character that gets me more excited than first-person shooters. You still get the feeling of being immersed in battle, but the character I’m controlling is visible at all times.
We’ve seen many games do third-person shooting well; Gears of War and Mass Effect are my favorite examples. But what sets Kingmakers apart is its unique time travel theme, a concept that publisher tinyBuild and developer Redemption Road have executed with such thematic prowess that it has me eagerly anticipating the game’s release.
We’ve seen games like Chrono Triggers, Quantum Break, and Bioshock Infinite have time travel elements, but I’ve never seen the concept as in-your-face as it is in the Kingmakers previews. The utterly bonkers gameplay sequences in the preview above piqued my interest, and I now want to know when this thing is coming out so I can add it to my rotation.
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to see someone show up in medieval times with new-age weapons and go to battle with thousands of warriors from that time, it looks like Kingmakers allows you to live out this particular fantasy.
The video above suggests gameplay will include elements of war strategy, massive battles featuring a multitude of characters on the screen–a la Dynasty Warriors or World War Z–and a diverse array of weaponry, from choppers and tanks to various handguns and automatic weapons.
This, combined with the sort of break-everything quality found in open-world games like Grand Theft Auto, Ark and Saints Row, promises a unique gaming experience. There are choppers, tanks, a variety of handguns, automatic weapons, cars, and I imagine other time-bending concepts you can bring with you.
My hope is that you’d also be able to customize your character’s attire to create an even more striking visual on the screen with blended eras. Unfortunately, Kingmakers doesn’t have an official release date.
According to its Steam page, it is scheduled for release in 2024, and based on the number of views it has received on Punish and IGN, there is a significant buzz around the release.
Here’s hoping this project makes it to PCs and consoles and lives up to its enormous potential—expansion packs and the whole nine yards.
This game could cover several areas from an edutainment standpoint to dumb fun. I’m here for it.