HomeNewsExekiller
Semi-open world FPS ExeKiller is a mix of cyberpunk and Wild West with a 1970s-style hovercarCowborg life sim
Cowborg life sim
Image credit:Null Games
Image credit:Null Games
Sometimes, a game needs an original premise before I’ll write it up, and sometimes, it just needs a flying car, or a slick revolver with chambers outlined in mouthwatering red neon. Say hello toExeKiller, which I am filing under “not new, but news to me”. I know, “ExeKiller” sounds like a computer virus, though I think the people who make viruses tend to favour less obviously nefarious names, like “Microsoft Werd”. Hang on, that’s what I’m writing this article with! Quickly, before I lose this PC to ransomware: ExeKiller is actually a “semi-open” world cyber-WesternFPSwith retro futurist visuals. It casts you as a bounty hunter plying the dunes and gas stations of a post-apocalyptic Earth, and it looks like a mix ofCyberpunk 2077and Drive. Here’s some pre-alpha footage.
ExeKiller - Gameplay RevealWatch on YouTube
ExeKiller - Gameplay Reveal
In ExeKiller you play Denzel Fenix, who works for a sinister corporation headquartered in ruined New York. You can tell this is a grimdark setting, because they’ve spelt Phoenix wrong. I’m unconvinced of the grimdarkness of “Denzel”, though. It gives me more of a Saturday afternoon sitcom vibe.
The plot sees you learning about both “powerful factions” and your own origins. The quests themselves all sound very Deus Exuberant, with dialogue decisions plugging into different story endings. You’ll make such capital-c Choices as 1) do I return this big pile of money to its rightful owners, or spend it on a fancier shotgun, and 2) do I moider this no-good badnik, or do I show mercy so I can go to Cyborg Heaven later.
On paper, I wouldn’t call ExeKiller tremendously interesting, but I do like the sound of an open world game woven around smaller locations. Perhaps it’ll play likeFalloutwith much less cruft and distraction? A Fallout artfully thinned back to its overworld, with a few choice outcrops of dungeon.
