Putting a halt to the apocalypse isn’t easy, at least not in Techland’s new top down shooter, God’s Trigger, but it’s certainly fun.
The game’s premise is fairly straightforward; An Angel and a Demon team up to kill their way into Heaven and stop the Apocalypse. Shouldn’t be too hard, right? Well the ensuing chaos plays out like an unholy Hotline Miami-style co-op bloodbath with a hint of Borderlands style humour and this is only the first chapter.
The main section of the area I played involved tracking down one of the horsemen of the apocalypse, Pestilence, in a Western-themed area. It’s clear, even early on, that the game doesn’t just want you to run and gun the whole area, there are some nifty ways to get the job done which don’t involve bullets. Well, not you’re own bullets, anyway. Your two players (which you can play solo or co-op), Harry (an Angel) and Judy (A Demon) have their own distinct styles and powers and these can be upgraded over time with a nice and easy progression path to work through. Judy, in particular, has powers that can be used from afar. Her demonic possession gives you the ability to mess with the heads of the enemy, avoiding getting your own hands dirty for a while. There’s an element of strategy, here, that you’ll need to get through the masses of enemies that lay in wait.
While solo play lets you easily swap between the pair, co-op is where God’s Trigger has its bloody heart. Strategy and team play really come into their own when dealing with enemies who get alerted by your shooting, whether you’re laying traps or just blasting through rooms of enemies.
I’m really looking forward to see where God’s Trigger takes me after this preview area, it feels like an inventive take on the top down shooter and I’d recommend keeping an eye out for this one when it lands on April 18th.
