Back in July, earlier this year, Rainworld’s developer VIDEOCULT announced their new upcoming game, Airframe Ultra, which is very much different from what you’d expect from VIDEOCULT, given how much Rainworld was… Well, Rainworld.
Anyhow, I’m super excited for this release. From the looks of it, it’s about racing in an underground racing competition… and it very much reminds me of what the lovechild of Crazy Taxi, Urban Star Racers and Jet Set Radio would look like… but darker and grittier… and I’m not even sure where that Jet Set Radio impression came from but that’s what my head is associating with it.
“It’s the year 2023, why are there no super cool retro cyberpunk hoverbike racing combat games? I feel like I was lied to by society. So it looks like we’re going to have to do it ourselves.
James Therrien, Co-Founder of VIDEOCULT
We put in katanas, molotov cocktails, a chain that you swing around and use as a whip. Heck you can even joust with knocked down street signs, like some crazed street knights. Cervantes in a moto jacket.
Do you remember Twisted Metal? Vigilante? Carmageddon? I delight in memories of chaotic fun with vehicular carnage: explosions, shouting names at my friends. To deny the youth of today those same halcyon days would be tragic. It’s up to us.
So pick up your helmet and your uzi, dust off your rusted airframe and join us in this celebration of speed and violence! Welcome to Airframe Ultra.”
Airframe Ultra will have weaponry that you’ll utilize in races and combat on your hoverbike.
I’m in love with the retro aesthetic and I can’t wait to see how the physics actually feel in this game. From the looks of it, you can expect some wonkiness as well as fun multiplayer races (see below).
More than anything, I’m excited for the sheer absurdity of riding a hoverbike around while tackling other race participants and hitting them with a chainsaw, pipe, or other objects.
I’d imagine that there’s a bit of an arsenal of weapons to chose from, some sort of progression systems, as well as an esoteric touch based on VIDEOCULT’s history with Rainworld.
Something I loved about Rainworld was its immersive sandbox ecology with creatures preying on other creatures, and you just being in the middle of it all. It felt as if you could spectate the world from an outside perspective without ever getting tired of it. Their AI also was rather clever with many instances of me barely (if at all) escaping close encounters with dangerous critters.
Hence, I can’t wait to see what Airframe Ultra has to offer and what the devs will do with the premise except for crazy races and gritty combat encounters. Will there be a story? Will we find upgrades for our rides? Will we get to play the game with friends?
From the looks of it on the Steam page, there will be split-screen co-op, but I really hope we also have inherent online multiplayer in some form of capacity!
There is no release date for it just yet but you can wishlist Airframe Ultra on Steam right now to get notified when it’s out!
This post was originally written by Dan Dicere from Indiecator.
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