If you’re familiar with indie developers Double Stallion, then you likely know then for making 2D side-scrolling games with anime-inspired visuals, such asSpeed BrawlandConvergence: A League of Legends Story.So it’s a bit of a shock that their new recently-revealed game veers away from side-scrolling, instead being a co-op action-RPG extraction game, a rather unique twist. Said game is dubbed Surfpunk, and as its name may imply, the central theme here is a bit of a post-apocalyptic world with an emphasis on surfing culture, all while keeping the team’s signature anime style. Basically, imagine an answer to the incredibly rare question of “What if Jeff Spicoli fromFast Times at Ridgemont HIghwas a Final Fantasy character?”
Some Tasty Waves, A Cool Buzz, Hordes of Creatures…
We kid, though.As the reveal trailer at this link shows,Surfpunk isn’t exactly shying away from the surfing-inspired visuals and the types of attitudes and personalities one may expect from it, and that helps give it a bit of a unique charm. Set in a flooded world, you play as a Raider, a scavenger hunting for resources that can help you survive as well as Evress, a power source that helps the remnants of the world survive thanks to various technologies. So heading out solo or with up to three friends, you ride your rushboard out to various procedurally generated islands and ruins, hunting for whatever you can find and crafting tools needed to access certain areas, and trading in treasure for weapon upgrades and the like back on the Beastship, whipping up a loadout to your liking there as well.
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Of course, things are complicated by the presence of the mysterious, ink-like Sumi, making for the baddies that you’ll have to clash with while looting each island. And the longer you spend exploring, the more the Sumi begin to notice you, so time to see what you can grab and get out before becoming overwhelmed. It looks like it makes for some rather impressive action with fun mechanics, and the visuals are certainly inspired, with nice touches drawing from Pacific cultures. But will this be enough to help the game stand out in the ever-increasing world of extraction-based games? We’ll have to just wait and find out later when Surfpunk arrives for the PC (with no other platforms having been announced yet), but given Double Stallion’s track record so far, it looks like this has the potential to make some some rather impressive waves.
