Multiple heads and bodies will be available at launch on March 5.
Going into PAX East, MisBits was not a game that was on our radar, but it absolutely should have been. We scheduled an appointment with the 3BlackDot booth not really knowing what to expect. MisBits is described as “a riotous multiplayer, action-driven sandbox for warriors, builders, and creators alike.” Just as described, the gameplay is multi-faceted and allows people to enjoy the game in a myriad of different ways from the cartoony perspective of toys. Each way had us choose a head that best suited our personality and then attach to one of many body types, each with their own abilities. Possible heads included dogs and chickens, but new heads will be added as time goes on and will be available to unlock based on the completion of in-game challenges. It was described to us by the developer and the publisher team that these challenges will encourage players to learn more about what the game offers, how to play certain game modes, and how to create content. During the demo we played three different modes.
One mode that we played was a soccer type game (similar to Rocket League) that had us start as our chosen head, attach to a body, and boost a ball into the opposing players’ goal. If a team is doing too well, then a wall will be built over their goal to slow their progress toward a total blowout. This mode was enjoyable and fast paced, but I didn’t get a good sense of how much the different body types actually contributed to the changing the way the game was played.
Another mode that we had the chance to experience was a more traditional deathmatch style that pitted you up against up to 16 other players. This mode was where we really saw the difference that the body types made when playing. Each body type has different abilities to potentially harm the other players or give you an advantage over other players. For instance, if you chose a body without arms you would not be able to pick up items such as a toothbrush or rocket to beat other players. The robot spider doesn’t have arms, but can drop mines that can be punted toward other players inflicting damage or knocking them off the side of the arena. The arena we played in was a pirate ship with lots of weapon drops, body suit styles, moving spikes, and transport tubes to get you from one location to another. The game definitely got chaotic at times when almost all 16 players had their heads attached to different bodies in a small space.
The third mode we were able to test was the arcade where different developer, and eventually community, created content was available for a more end to end single player experience. One arcade game was a maze that was entirely based on the maze from The Shining. Another was an obstacle course style gauntlet that had you avoiding environmental dangers, getting to checkpoints, and using the different body suits to your advantage. I think that community created content will become really popular because there are a lot of creative people out there with a lot of talent.
Lastly, we were able to test the “toybox” which is the game’s creator system that gives you access to all in-game assets and the ability to build your own maps and modes. We didn’t get a chance to build any environments or levels, but the in-game asset editing was robust and allowed for a ton of different changes to the way things look, move, react, or interact. We were able to take a character and make it as small or as large as we wanted, adjust the gravity, adjust the acceleration and speed of movement, and fill the space with as many assets as the capacity would allow. This game feature will not be available at launch, but it will be one of the most interesting aspects of MisBits because you can truly create any kind of game you want (puzzler, platformer, speed runs, etc).
Overall MisBits is extremely polished and provides a generous amount of action, creation, and explosions. MisBits launches on March 5 on Steam.
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