Video game movie tie-ins have not always been the greatest, but Barcelona-based Big Star Games is hoping to change that with their upcoming release of Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days.
I was fortunate to demo the game at PAX East in March. Even though the game was only in an early alpha stage I was impressed by its playability and complexity. On first look, the game is reminiscent of top-down shooters like Hotline Miami but once you get into it there is a far greater level of complexity. The newest innovation is coming from a game mechanic that allows a player to rewind time.
To better explain the mechanic, imagine playing a video game level until you die, then rewind the level and use a second player to kill the enemy that would have eventually killed you. Repeat this 1 more time with a third player and you have the non-linear innovation of Reservoir Dogs. This mechanic may seem a bit intimidating at first but allow me to assure you that you will quickly be addicted to the concept. After playing a Bank Heist level my mind began to race with the possibilities of being able to refine my strategy of the placement and actions of my players. This makes not only the play but the replay of this game fascinating and exciting.
Currently, Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days has a very stylized cell shading look but as it is in the Alpha stage we can expect more refined artwork to come. As I said earlier, the game ran incredibly smoothly for being at this level of development. This is impressive and makes me confident that the full release will be very playable.
Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days has all of the famous characters and characterizations from the movie. The only difference is the look of some of the Dogs do not match their cinematic counterparts. This does not distract from the gameplay but it is something that I hope can be improved for the release.
Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days is scheduled to be released later this year on Steam and I myself look forward to it.
