Arizona-based indie studio Team Colorblind is bringing Aztez, its “brutal, bloody, expressive, difficult, and replayable action game” in development for the past two years, to PlayStation 4 and PS Vita.
The game is described as “two games” at its core. The first half is a “full on real-time beat ’em up combat experience.”
“We’ve piped in the feel and creativity of Bayonetta, the sensationalism and mobility of Capcom’s Alien Vs Predator, and the precision difficulty of classic Devil May Cry,” combat designer Ben Ruiz said on the PlayStation Blog. “As the combat designer, I’ve been studying these types of games for years, and I refuse to produce and hand you something that won’t dangerously raise your heart rate and dopamine levels.”
The other half is an “empire management strategy game,” which is where the game’s replayability comes from.
“We decided early on that we didn’t want to make another beat ‘em up that forces you through a linear narrative and rote platforming segments,” Ruiz said, “so we’ve created what we feel is an infinitely more interesting vehicle for thrilling combat; a randomized, historical Risk-like.”
Even so, Ruiz says the game is ultimately about the combat.
Aztez is due out this year. Watch a trailer below.