Game Production. Something that can event start at a scholastic age. For many of these budding devs, Level Up Showcase 2017(located at the Design Exchange in Toronto, Canada) which is a student portfolio showcase, is their time to shine. This is year two for me and this showing never fails to disappoint regardless of how many wired X-Box 360 controllers one will destroy while doing so. ONWARDS!
Bustle
Bumper cars, with buses, sounds, dangerous, but Bustle made it hilarious. Four budding bus companies feud over territory by knocking each other off. The six-man team, Moonwalk Studio, played up the isometric art style. The buses get shorter per death until they’re gone. Well played 4 player romp from these guys enjoy at the Level Up Showcase.
Neon Ascension
It’s Tetris and Power Stone having a baby. Or more or less channeling their inner Intelligence Cube. Either way, Team One’s Neon Ascension is a cool idea. Understanding it on one’s first run is an undertaking within itself, but the formality and challenge between it speak for itself. Moving the blocks off your side of the grid to hinder your opponent couldn’t be any more daring. There were a bit of slowdown on rendering and drop points were confusing to a point. The fun didn’t let up. The seven-man-woman group, Team One, gets a pat on the back from me for Neon Ascension. Glow stick graces not included.
Joustaposition
It’s Medeavil Times meets tech in Joustaposition. Jousters run through the map, hitting targets before meeting their opponent. It’s a creative approach that barely gets touched in ye olden day, steel-to-steel warfare. 3 robotic knights took to the screen with chainmail-clad combatants and peasants sported as onlookers. It’s a first-person gallop but was up there in quality.
Best of Level Up Showcase: Twin Switch
The four-man team of student devs plucked my heartstrings this round with Twin Switch. Twin Switch is a top-view-to-third-person shooter. While the concept may be a bit strange to hear, since it’s either a flip toss between the two, Scend Interactive was able to pull off a switch-mode between the two. To fire weapons and move around to a certain point, it’s the top view. To jump around and still move, it’s to the third person view. That’s the challenge, but to witness a match was thrilling. The game pulled off a bit of Halo and Monday Night Combat, but to see the rail shooter portion and powers added the right layers to this cake. Level Up Showcase
The polish on this game was the icing. This felt like a triple-A game and there were no doubts about the appearance. Combine that with the play style and probably not too many glitches on a sitdown, Twin Switch does justice. The 4 player mode was demonstrated, but with the potential to push this to a Steam console near us, Scend should adhere to the praise they received. Twin Switch is definitely a winner and my choice title at Level Up Showcase 2017.
Amazing job by the students this round!
