Developer/publisher Torn Banner Studios
Format PC
Origin Canada
Release TBA
One of the direst enemies in any zombie survival game is familiarity. This, and the contempt it engenders, is a foe that Torn Banner Studios has clearly thought about at length. There’s a lot here you’ll be expecting: you’re dropped into a barren post-industrial wilderness to pick your way through the shambling hordes of infected; you must scavenge weapons, patch up injuries and ensure you never find yourself surrounded. But this is also an eight-player co-op game that you always begin in exactly the same way – alone.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1730374449/articles/mKdVTNlB71730457657994/0273051423.jpg]
It’s a thrillingly distinct way to kick things off, and dictates the pace. Your first task, after taking stock of your meagre starting supplies (a pipe, a flashlight and a few rounds of ammo), is to work out where everyone else is. A glance at the in-game compass may show a few people within a couple of hundred yards, but then you set off to meet them and the world seems dauntingly dark, the scrabbly American midwestern landscape delivered as a mass of shadows, with only occasional pinpricks of light giving any shape to it.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1730374449/articles/mKdVTNlB71730457657994/1097203127.jpg]
In making the game, Torn Banner has considered childhood memories of being outside at night. “That’s definitely one of the emotional references we talked of,” game director Leif Walter says. “We wanted to make sure we hit these emotional experiences that are deeply rooted in everyone. Everyone is afraid of the dark. It’s such a well of tension we’re able to tap into.” And with so much darkness, the team could also lean into using rare patches of light in meaningful ways. “Light is a resource you care about,” Walter explains. “Sometimes more explicitly, like with the flashlight battery running out, but even just making it to a streetlamp, you’re suddenly able to use a two-handed weapon because you no longer need a flashlight to guide your way.”
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1730374449/articles/mKdVTNlB71730457657994/5194531013.jpg]
In our time with the early-access release, it all works beautifully. The sequel to a game that began life as a Source mod, No More Room In Hell 2 excels when you’re sneaking about, lonely and underprepared, the night and its horrors looming on every side. Each match has a central multi-stage mission to accomplish, and you’ll need to gather loot and team up to complete it. But the game is both confident and charismatic when you’re simply creeping through a cornfield or a car park on your own, trying to keep it together for the next few minutes.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1730374449/articles/mKdVTNlB71730457657994/9333017723.jpg]
After unwisely picking a few fights – and learning how seriously permadeath is taken – it becomes clear that No More Room In Hell 2 isn’t about mindlessly blasting zombies. In the tense opening sections of a match, it’s largely...
Format PC
Origin Canada
Release TBA
One of the direst enemies in any zombie survival game is familiarity. This, and the contempt it engenders, is a foe that Torn Banner Studios has clearly thought about at length. There’s a lot here you’ll be expecting: you’re dropped into a barren post-industrial wilderness to pick your way through the shambling hordes of infected; you must scavenge weapons, patch up injuries and ensure you never find yourself surrounded. But this is also an eight-player co-op game that you always begin in exactly the same way – alone.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1730374449/articles/mKdVTNlB71730457657994/0273051423.jpg]
It’s a thrillingly distinct way to kick things off, and dictates the pace. Your first task, after taking stock of your meagre starting supplies (a pipe, a flashlight and a few rounds of ammo), is to work out where everyone else is. A glance at the in-game compass may show a few people within a couple of hundred yards, but then you set off to meet them and the world seems dauntingly dark, the scrabbly American midwestern landscape delivered as a mass of shadows, with only occasional pinpricks of light giving any shape to it.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1730374449/articles/mKdVTNlB71730457657994/1097203127.jpg]
In making the game, Torn Banner has considered childhood memories of being outside at night. “That’s definitely one of the emotional references we talked of,” game director Leif Walter says. “We wanted to make sure we hit these emotional experiences that are deeply rooted in everyone. Everyone is afraid of the dark. It’s such a well of tension we’re able to tap into.” And with so much darkness, the team could also lean into using rare patches of light in meaningful ways. “Light is a resource you care about,” Walter explains. “Sometimes more explicitly, like with the flashlight battery running out, but even just making it to a streetlamp, you’re suddenly able to use a two-handed weapon because you no longer need a flashlight to guide your way.”
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1730374449/articles/mKdVTNlB71730457657994/5194531013.jpg]
In our time with the early-access release, it all works beautifully. The sequel to a game that began life as a Source mod, No More Room In Hell 2 excels when you’re sneaking about, lonely and underprepared, the night and its horrors looming on every side. Each match has a central multi-stage mission to accomplish, and you’ll need to gather loot and team up to complete it. But the game is both confident and charismatic when you’re simply creeping through a cornfield or a car park on your own, trying to keep it together for the next few minutes.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1730374449/articles/mKdVTNlB71730457657994/9333017723.jpg]
After unwisely picking a few fights – and learning how seriously permadeath is taken – it becomes clear that No More Room In Hell 2 isn’t about mindlessly blasting zombies. In the tense opening sections of a match, it’s largely...
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Edge Uk (Digital) - 1 Issue, Christmas 2024