E3 2017 Previews – Matterfall
At Sony’s E3 Mixer (just before their Media Showcase), I had an opportunity to play PS4 exclusive, Matterfall, for the first time. I didn’t quite catch the story, but it seems to revolve around a hero in an enhanced super suit (think Samus from Metroid) in a futuristic setting where humans have been imprisoned by what appear to be evil machines. The game is a linear side-scroller with no back-tracking required that utilizes a twin stick style shooting mechanic (left stick moves you, right stick fires your primary weapon in the direction it’s pointing).
The first thing you’ll notice is the relatively steep learning curve, in part due to the sheer number of abilities you have to balance. Jumping, double jumping, shooting grenades, shooting your primary gun, shooting your matter gun, and your charge move that allows you to stop enemies (and their bullets) in their tracks. Then there is the actual game, which has been meticulously designed to utilize all your abilities in relatively rapid succession. When everything clicks, it works well and looks even cooler – but don’t expect to just pick it up and play it smoothly.
Throughout the levels, you’ll encounter a variety of enemies each with their own unique offensive capabilities. Some of the larger enemies will have special defensive abilities that force you to attack them in a specific way. It seems designed to encourage a slower pacing, as opposed to a quick run and gun style of gameplay. You’ll come across humans encased in a purple crystal-like substance, which you’ll use your matter gun to help set them free – earning a reward to help improve your abilities. One of the unique platforming elements are these partially visible blue platforms that require you to fire your matter gun at them to solidify them before you can stand on them.
I had a chance to briefly speak with one of the developers and he said that the game is pretty much finished, they’re just working on tweaking the difficulty. I asked him about the game length and he said a beginner player would probably take about eight hours to complete. There are no multiplayer aspects to it, but there will be leaderboards for people to compete for high scores. There will also be some pretty difficult Trophies to earn. Matterfall has enough unique elements to stand itself apart from other side-scrolling titles and should be worth checking out if you’re looking for a fun action game.
Matterfall launches exclusively on PlayStation 4 on August 15th, 2017
