Tripwire Interactive as a studio has grown a significant amount in recent years. After successfully launching its own titles and helping other developers to publish their own games, Tripwire has returned to PAX East once again in 2020, an event where gamers from far and wide come to see and play what developers like Tripwire are creating firsthand. Here’s a comprehensive overview of each Tripwire game that was on the PAX East 2020 show floor, as well as information on when you can play these games yourself.
Maneater
The first title Tripwire had to show off during PAX East was Maneater, a gloriously bloody open-world action RPG where you play as a shark. Hundreds of interested players stepped up to embody one of the ocean’s most feared predators and go on a tirade through the sea, eating fish and humans alike. The shark is capable of big leaps, too, so you can even jump out of the water, snatch a person from their raft, and then dive back into the depths with your hard-earned lunch. There’s a complete story arc and interesting gameplay mechanics beyond eating creatures as well, giving the game a strong amount of depth.
Sometimes, though, you will be the prey for various different types of apex predators. Though the demo at PAX focused on empowering the players by allowing them to control a powerful shark, the final version of the game will see you start off much weaker, and you’ll be faced with the thrilling challenge of understanding what creatures you can hunt to get stronger, and which ones you’ll need to avoid for a while, lest you become a meal yourself. Overall, Maneater looks like a ton of fun.
Chivalry 2
The second game Tripwire had to show people at PAX was Chivalry 2, a title that it’s working closely on with Torn Banner Studios, the development studio behind the original Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. Chivalry 2 aims to capture the large, sandbox-driven nature of the Battlefield series, but in a medieval setting where swords, axes, bows, and catapults replace pistols, rifles, and tanks. The main draw of the game will be its deep, nuanced melee mechanics that allow players to engage in intense, skill-based duels all over the map while trying to accomplish objectives. At PAX East, crowds of fascinated players gathered around to try out a shortened version of a match on one of the game’s team-based objective maps called Lionspire. This map involved a tense castle siege as invaders sought to take over the fortress before the trebuchets within managed to destroy attacking naval vessels.
Tripwire had 36 stations for the PAX demo but the full game will support up to 64 player! In fact, Chivalry 2’s maps will support massive 64-player battles at launch, which will really help drive home the Battlefield feel that the developers are going for.
When can you get your hands on these great games?
If you’re worried that it will take a long time for you to play these titles yourself if you weren’t at PAX, don’t be; their release dates are a lot closer than you may think. Specifically, Maneater is coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC (through the Epic Games Store and Steam) on May 22, 2020, with a Nintendo Switch version coming out later in the year. Chivalry 2, meanwhile, is beginning public alpha testing in March 2020 and will also have a beta period in the summer, before releasing in full later down the line in 2020. It will be playable on PC through the Epic Games Store.
Ultimately, both the “shark simulator” gameplay of Maneater and the intense, melee-oriented battlefield combat of Chivalry 2 look like they’ll be an absolute blast to experience. Thankfully, the wait for them isn’t long.
