Previews// Kawiteros and Knee Deep

Chris O'Regan, host of The Sausage Factory (the inside baseball of the videogames world), has been out and about once again, keeping his nose to the ground at EGX to sniff out the best upcoming games you might not have heard about. Here's what he found...

Kawiteros
Developer: Neko Entertainment
Format(s): Windows PC, Mac and Linux

When a game leaves an such an impression on you that you're still thinking about it a week after playing it, you know it's worthy of one's attention. Kawiteros was this game, as after I had experienced the terribly short demo that was present at EGX did I regret not having another go before I left some time after. Presented on a 2D plane, the player takes control of a humanoid creature that has horns and hooves for feet. As the creature moves through the world additional elements are revealed that open up new areas to explore.

Controls are at first limited to simple left and right movements until additional powers are bestowed upon Kawiteros's main protagonist as it chases and interacts with elements in the level via a mouse click. This creates the interesting switch between digital directional input vs. precise mouse aiming and pointing.

This has been done before on Aaru's Awakening, but the major difference here is that it is not so sensitive or timing dependent. This makes for a more forgiving gameplaying experience that is very much fitting with its visual style.

The one thing that really impressed me was how engaging Kawiteros was in terms of the design and layout of the world the strange hoofed creature inhabits. Stark and contrasting colours abound as if the designer has elected to use the 'all of them' in response to what palette they chose to use when making Kawiteros.

Kawiteros is very early in its development and will only see the light of day some time in 2016 on Windows PC, Mac and Linux.

Knee Deep
Developer: Prologue Games
Format(s): Windows PC, Mac and Linux

As anyone who has been to the theatre will tell you, the manner in which actors project their voices and the tempo at which they speak is quite odd. Each word is uttered with clarity and given importance in equal measure. Many have likened this to speaking like William Shatner, only he tends to overdo things quite a bit.

Set in contemporary Florida, Knee Deep takes place in the fictional town of Cypress Knee where an out of work actor has committed suicide. The story of Knee Deep revolves around the events that led to this actor's death and it quickly becomes apparent that not is all as it seems in this back-water town.

Knee Deep is an attempt to meld a choose your own adventure game with theatre by presenting a story to the player that is delivered by actors who are more familiar with treading the boards than standing behind a microphone delivering lines for a videogame. This results in what one would regarded as a stilted stucco manner that without the unique visuals that Knee Deep boasts would not make a lot of sense.

As in the theatre, when a new scene is presented the stage and lighting slides off and moves until a new series of props appears. This adds to the theatre theme of Knee Deep immensely and forces the player to buy into this unique delivery of a game type.

As someone who does enjoy the theatre (when I can afford to go) to see the two mediums merged in this way was quite startling. One must consider the fact that they are, in terms of storytelling mediums, at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of the age of the audience they typically attract. Despite this gap there is a commonality between them, and to allow the player to alter where the play goes is something only a videogame can do effectively.

Knee Deep is currently out on Windows PC, Mac and Linux and is being released in an episodic fashion, with the first two having been released by the time this preview has been published.