Housemarque might sound unfamiliar to many, especially the younger crowd, but they’ve been around for quite a while. Since the early-mid 90’s, this Finnish developer has been churning out quality games from shoot-em-ups like the Stardust series to point-and-click adventures that set the stage for Alien Incident. They’ve built a legacy of cult-hits that have been a part of what has defined the gaming industry as it’s evolved over the past couple of decades. Housemarque is currently working on two projects at the moment, Matterfall and Nex Machina. The Nex Machina project is actually being developed in partnership with Eugene Jarvis, creator of the Robotron and Smash TV games (actually just referenced Smash TV recently in my CRUSH.TV article). Nex Machina is being developed with the arcade experience of the past in mind, while focusing on the competitive side of games that we see when we stand next to our opponents in a head-to-head button-mashing frenzy. Matterfall is an upcoming Playstation 4 release that tells anxious fans very little, but instills a world of wonder showing the protagonist fighting against enemies that materialize before them as a strange matter forms itself into different sentient beings in its short trailer.
Aside from updates on the developer’s Twitter, there is little to go on for these two new titles, however if you’re a diehard fan, you know what to expect. And if you’re not, there’s a library of titles by the developers you can read up on if you haven’t had the chance to play any of their games in the last twenty or so years they’ve been around. An alpha sign up has been opened, and the window is closing fast with an end date set for the 5th of March. Fifty applicants will be selected, and testing will begin on the 10th of March, and close on the 19th. Here’s the Willy Wonka side of things (didn’t think I’d ever be writing that), the title in question is still the title in question. The alpha sign up doesn’t specify which game will be opening for testing. We’re not going to make any assumptions, but it could be one, the other or both. Either way, you can rest assured that you’re signing up for the possibility of getting your hands on the early version of a game being developed by a more-than-capable studio with a proven track record. Ask their community, there’s a reason why that group is hyped, Housemarque knows what they’re doing.
Sign-up for the alpha by filling this google form.
Played it? We’d love to know what you thought about it.
