STARDUST VANGUARDS is an indie local 4-player dueling game in the style of old-school anime space operas. It blends precision, high-speed dueling with the ability to earn and summon overwhelming numbers of allied NPC reinforcements to fight by your side. The game is going to launch this Friday on Windows and Linux via Steam and Humble at $9.99.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjMIO2nA62Q
The game is an Indiecade East eSports Selection coming up next month and was nominated for the 2015 SXSW Gamers’ Voice Award in March.
GAMEPLAY –
The game caters to couch-multiplayer fans who love fast paced dueling.
Each player’s mecha can attack with a sword, fire auto-targeting machine guns with limited ammo, and reflect bullets back at enemies as they boost across the battlefield. Summoning troops is where Stardust Vanguards sets itself apart from other arena battlers. As you kill enemies you’ll earn RP (“reinforcement points”) and the more RP you have the more NPC allies you’ll be able to summon into the fight. The game stays tense since you’ll die in a single hit, so use your troops strategically and attack with them or retreat behind them. During massive battles, sometimes it may be better to let them do the fighting for you while you take cover.
RANDOM EVENT SYSTEM –
Each battle will have occasional interruptions by NPC space pirates, who will launch attacks to win the battle themselves! They show up in dozens of potential scenarios including minor ambushes, full-on capital ship blitzkriegs, passing transport convoys, mercenary attacks, and more. The pirates can win the battle too, so brief cooperation with your rivals may be a good idea… or you could use the chaos to score a sneaky kill. Duels between players remain intensely personal even while on a battlefield crowded with NPC squadrons, capital ships, and pirates.
RELEASE INFO AND LINKS –
The game is an entirely a local multiplayer affair and will launch for
$9.99 on Steam/Humble for Windows/Linux on Friday, January 30th, 2015.
Steam Store: http://store.steampowered.com/app/341530/
Official Blog: http://www.zanrai.com/