New Blood Publishing has made great strides with its games, and among them is a darling brawling action game, called Tonight We Riot. Heavily inspired by dystopic depictions of the 1980’s and real-life events of protest and revolution, Tonight We Riot puts players on the frontlines of toppling governments the good ‘ol fashioned way, and that is through the streets. When I last checked the game, it looked and sounded chaotic, and fierce.
At PAX West 2017, I noticed some improvements and saw some new levels.
Playing with a representative from New Blood, we quickly began rebelling against the oppressive government, throwing snowballs, bricks, and Molotov cocktails at law enforcement. As usual, we quickly recruited many A.I rebels to our cause, and we constantly fought all the way through to the end. Fists were thrown, officers were bashed, and buildings, both police, and civilian were lit ablaze.
After quickly moving through this level, I noticed that there were significant enhancements to the visuals, seeing a polish to the delightfully pixelated visuals. Additionally, there seemed to be more music in the game, with reworked levels to add to the chaos. The game utilizes a deep-bass synthesizer soundtrack to nail the 1980’s audio aesthetic. We then proceeded to a different level I had not played previously.
Our next level took us to the docks, an isolated but nonetheless strategic installation to take back for the rebel cause. As we clobbered military police, I noticed there were radioactive barrels scattered throughout the dock. I was warned to be careful, but of course, in an action game, caution is not taken. Soon, some of these barrels exploded, spewing radioactive material upon the fighting rebels and military police alike.
They mutated into dangerous monsters, making matters worse. These worm monsters with tentacles can cause heavy damage to you or your partner, so we quickly dispatched them in a hail of bricks and cocktails. We continued fighting bitterly across the stage, fighting monsters and law enforcement alike. Eventually, we won the match, but we had one more stage to go.
As for the final stage, we both fought the boss. I expected something simple and expected, such as a Tank or supped up soldier. Instead, we fought a giant, towering building, that had transformed into a giant enforcer robot. Perhaps this was a subtle nod to the building robot in the Tom Hanks movie BIG. That, I will never know.
The boss was tough and we tried repeatedly as the machine used spinning drills. I jumped and punched my way around the robot, dodging repeated attacks. Inevitably, with both arms down, the robot explode into a ball of fire. While the evil dictator piloting it escaped, we liberated that section of the country and were victorious.
From my time since PAX SOUTH in Texas to PAX EAST in Seattle, Tonight We Riot is shaping to be an explosive experience, filled with style, fun, and a big challenge.
Tonight We Riot is slated for release on STEAM by the end of the year, with consoles to come shortly after.