8Bit/Digi

In a special event organized by One PR at the Hotel Emblem (located in San Francisco), Tripwire Interactive and Torn Banner Studios invited members of the media to experience a special preview of Man Eater and Chivalry II.

During the preview session, I got the chance to play both Man Eater and Chivalry II for the PC. At the same time, I got some insight into there development along with the challenges that had to overcome and the joys of bring these visions to life.

First Playthrough of Man Eater

Man Eater is an open world that puts players in the role of a shark seeking vengeance while doing what nature intended. In a journey narrated by Chris Parnell, players take on the role of a shark who was left for dead by a hunter. The shark starts as a baby but grows and attempts to find its way back to the ocean from the bayou.

During my playthrough, I spent most of the tutorial and beginning level just mindlessly devouring any humans I saw. Its visual details created a perfect balance between its dark tone while having a sense of humor about it. The controls were easy to learn while some actions required me to actually listen to the tutorial.

This is a game that clearly takes its inspiration for all those chessey shark films that are made for TV. It’s not afraid to hide this fact as it wants the players to have fun eating everything in sight. It’s not scientifically accurate (but realism be damned) it’s mindless fun. This is made even more clear by the fact that its being narrated by Chris Parnell.

Man Eater is set to launch for all major consoles and the PC on Mary 22nd.

First Playthrough of Chivalry II

Chivalry II is a first person multiplayer experience that has players take on the role of medieval knights and battle it out. Players work as a team to defeat the opposing force in a battle to the death.

A game that requires players to work as a team went as well as you expect, I would abandon my shield then run in swinging by sword (I’m a terrible team player). In no time, I was hacked up into pieces (after I got a few hits off the other guy). Despite its limitations of being in Alpha stage, everyone did enjoy their demo session.

With the game being in Alpha stage, there were plenty of technical issues during the demo session. However these were issues that gave it more charm than hinder the experience. We all did get a good laugh out of these bugs, but they will be resolved when the game launches.

Chivalry II is set to launch for the PC sometime in 2020. At the moment there is no plan for a console release.

Mixer

After the demo session, the room was transformed into a mixer event (complete with finger food and complementary drinks). It was during the mixer that the media guest and the developers got to have a more personal conversation with each other.

8Bit/Digi is an independent media outlet that provides an insight into the video game community and industry of the San Francisco Bay Area.