Strange Brigade - coop 1930s Egypt third person shooter

[Captain Kelsten]

 

"Embark on an exotic journey into danger in this rip-roaring 1930s third person adventure for 1-4 players! Encounter pulse-pounding action, treacherous traps and tales of derring-do!"

 

 

Recently in some other thread I said I wished there were more games set in 1920s/30s Egypt, as it's a setting ripe for gaming, but curiously underused. Well, apparently someone from Rebellion was listening, travelled back in time to 2017 and announced Strange Brigade, a third person coop puzzly adventure horror shooter thing. 

 

Story trailer here:

 

I'm a sucker for the time period and setting: the era of derring-do adventure, ancient curses, mummies, giant skorpions and the like. The first two Mummy films are definitely guilty pleasures of mine, mainly due to the setting (and Rachel Weisz, obviously).

 

Here's the cast of characters you'll take control of:

 

 

And here they are shooting some mummies and stuff:

 

 

I think the only Rebellion game I ever played was the first Aliens Vs Predator. I've not played any of the Sniper Elite games, so no idea whether their involvement is a mark of quality or not. 

 

Regardless, I'm excited!

 

http://strangebrigade.com/en

 

 

 

[K]

I guess it all depends on the execution and how the character is actually written and portrayed, but the player character second from the left in the middle screenshot looks a little bit stereotyped, to put it mildly.

[Girth Certificate]

It reminds me of Maze of Kings, which was shiiiiiiite

 

 

 

edit: oh I didn't noticed it was Rebellion. I LOVED the last Sniper Elite so I'll give this a chance

[Salsa Party Animal]

Look like it is my cup of tea. So I have it on pre order. I can enjoy it after my holiday. 

[Max Damage]

I have played Zombie army trilogy to death and Strange brigade looks like it will play in a similar style. This is my most anticipated game of this year, I hope there will be large hordes of enemies and it will be nice not to have a sniper rifle as your primary weapon.

 

 

[Trumpets]

Looks like a true B-game, in the best sense. 'Strange Brigade' is a great title too.

[SozzlyJoe]

1 hour ago, K said:

I guess it all depends on the execution and how the character is actually written and portrayed, but the player character second from the left in the middle screenshot looks a little bit stereotyped, to put it mildly.

 

My reactions as I was scrolling down the thread "Oh this looks interes-- FFS"

 

But maybe it'll be a sensitive portrayal of whatever that is supposed to be.

[mechamonkey]

Played this at last years EGX and really enjoyed it. It felt much more like a multiplayer arcade game than a L4D type of affair, great setting. 
I've been waiting on any news since so glad to hear a release date finally.

[Captain Kelsten]

5 hours ago, K said:

I guess it all depends on the execution and how the character is actually written and portrayed, but the player character second from the left in the middle screenshot looks a little bit stereotyped, to put it mildly.

 

4 hours ago, SozzlyJoe said:

 

My reactions as I was scrolling down the thread "Oh this looks interes-- FFS"

 

But maybe it'll be a sensitive portrayal of whatever that is supposed to be.

 

“That” looks to be an African tribes woman. Are we we not allowed to portray African tribes people in games, then? Pretend they don’t exist in case we upset someone? Or are we simply dismissing such characters out of hand because they’re black and we’re feeling some white guilt? Isn’t that some kind of positive discrimination, or something? Or is it because the one black person in the lineup appears to be a “savage”? 

 

African tribes women still exist to this day, you know. The game developers have chosen to cover her up more than you might see in reality. No doubt in the game she’ll be portrayed as a powerful warrior woman, on some kind of tribal quest, or from a local tribe sworn to guard the ancient tombs of the mummy priestess, or some other such cliche. 

[revlob]

I fully trust a games studio to handle the issue sensitively.

[hmm]

Particularly a studio with a series of games where the USP is that you can shoot Hitler in the bollock in slow motion forensic detail.

[K]

1 hour ago, Orko said:

 

 

“That” looks to be an African tribes woman. Are we we not allowed to portray African tribes people in games, then? Pretend they don’t exist in case we upset someone? Or are we simply dismissing such characters out of hand because they’re black and we’re feeling some white guilt? Isn’t that some kind of positive discrimination, or something? Or is it because the one black person in the lineup appears to be a “savage”? 

 

African tribes women still exist to this day, you know. The game developers have chosen to cover her up more than you might see in reality. No doubt in the game she’ll be portrayed as a powerful warrior woman, on some kind of tribal quest, or from a local tribe sworn to guard the ancient tombs of the mummy priestess, or some other such cliche. 

 

Well, yeah, African tribes people do exist and did exist in the 1930s. And it does depend on the actual portrayal in the game. I guess my point is that the developers made a choice to have the black protagonist be a stereotyped tribal warrior, with plate earrings, gold bangles up and down her arms and face paint, which seems quite regressive.

 

It seems appropriate for the era to use regressive stereotypes, but at the same time, in that era, there were black women who were pilots and archaeologists and novelists, and dozens of other roles that would fit perfectly into the game’s milieu. Just because a developer has set a game in a particular era doesn’t mean they have to take on all the stereotypes and prejudices of that era as well. 

 

That said, maybe I should give the devs the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they’ll subvert players’ expectations of the character. But superficially at least, it looks a bit dodge. 

[Captain Kelsten]

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, to be honest. They could have made the other female character black, or one of the male ones and, as I suggested in my post, I imagine they're going to go with a real cliche reason for her being there as a tribal woman (tribe (called) quest, ancient protectors, something like that) and probably handle it as sensitively as a brick through a window.

 

 

[Pob]

It can't be better than Oh Mummy.

[robotattack]

The Oliver Twins have apparently got some involvement in this, although I don't know what to degree. They posted on their Facebook page last night that "we and our team are working on [it]." (Rebellion bought their studio Radiant Worlds earlier in the year and renamed it to Rebellion Warwick).

[Captain Kelsten]

Is that good or bad?

[robotattack]

27 minutes ago, Orko said:

Is that good or bad?

 

No idea. I just thought it was kind of interesting.  Looking at their credits I doubt they'll have any hands-on involvement with it.

[mr_woo]

£40 on Steam with a 10% discount to £36 ?  No ta.  I mean I think the game looks like a lot of fun but I thought this was going to be more like the Nazi Zombie game in terms of pricing, plus Yakuza Kiwami 2 is out the same day so it'll have to wait.

[Larsen B]

It worked for Lost Reavers.

[bumgut]

Looks like a co-op serious sam with special powers.

 

Which is good.

[Orbital2060]

Despite the terrible reviews,  Deadfall Adventures (360) is quite enjoyable, if only for the tomb crawling.

[Not Thread Owner]

Rebellion didn't do the first Alien vs Predator game...

 

Anyway, this really does look like Left 4 Dead. Hope it isn't!

[Captain Kelsten]

If you're on about the terrible side scrolling beat em up to be pedantic then no. But if you're on about the jaguar or PC fps then yeah, they did. 

[gossi the dog]

Is it based on one of their comics?

[Triple A]

I like the worldview of this, but have a question mark over the studio involved.

And - do you think Chris Pine is getting royalties in exchange for his likeness being used?

[Nespresso]

 

Doesn't look particularly involving? 

[Captain Kelsten]

How do you mean?

 

Looks a bit left 4 dead. But with magic and puzzles. 

[Nespresso]

Really want to like this but even at 2X speed I had to skip through it as the combat looks mind-numbingly dull. I know it's just a tutorial mission but those enemies are zzz inducing!

 

 

[Keyboard Koala]

Exhumed 2 it ain't

[Smitty]

On 24/04/2018 at 15:04, K said:

I guess it all depends on the execution and how the character is actually written and portrayed, but the player character second from the left in the middle screenshot looks a little bit stereotyped, to put it mildly.

 

LOL, it only took one post for the inevitble accusation of racism to occur. Of course it's from a very an extremely shook white person.