I'm a simple man, a simple man who loves frogs. Thankfully, many indie devs seem to share my passion, what with the deluge of games starring the little green amphibians coming down the pike. One of the most exciting yet is Shoulders of Giants, recently showcased at the Epic Store Summer Show.
This action roguelike sees you controlling a space frog piloting a samurai mech suit, switching between them for ranged and melee attacks respectively. The game supports up to four player co-op, and sees the amphibious warriors doing battle with the "forces of entropy" and restoring life to barren landscapes, a feature that reminds me of the PS2 classic, Okami. From the game's Epic store page:
"The forces of Entropy are spreading chaos through the stars, corrupting living planets and urging on the heat death of the universe. Led by the psychic Owl, one scrappy team of space survivors are fighting to restore the balance. A mysterious mech! A sharpshooting amphibian! Together they must cut through waves of enemies and restore light and life to the galaxy!"
This first trailer and early screenshots show off a variety of sci-fi environments, with craggy moonscapes and lush, restored wilderness, including that favorite of sci-fi and fantasy artists everywhere: columnar basalt. In between life-restoring missions, the frogs and robo-samurai seem to return to a hub sporting even more charming, anthropomorphic creatures including a panda blacksmith and a psychic owl serving as a mentor and/or mission control.
Shoulders of Giants will be released exclusively on the Epic Games Store this Fall, and you can follow the game's progress over on Twitter.
