Rebellion, the developers of the Sniper Elite series, has just announced that it is developing a new entry based on the Bitmap Brother's Amiga classic Speedball, and that it's available now in Steam Early Access.
Speedball, in case you've heard of it, is a futuristic game that focuses on a sport that is essentially a combination of handball and ice hockey. It was originally developed by the Bitmap Brothers in 1988 for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST and was later ported to various other platforms including MS-DOS computers, the Commodore 64, the NES (as Klashball), and Sega Master System.
A sequel, Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, followed shortly after, in 1990, similarly starting life on both Atari ST and Amiga, before being ported (and remade) for a range of other machines.
The new game from Rebellion takes place in the grim future of 2138, where corporations are using the future sport to distract "the downtrodden masses" from their miserable lives. Players will compete in single-player and multiplayer competitions (both online and offline), alongside other cybernetically augmented competitors, with the overall goal being to overpower their opponents and score the most goals.
Here's some PR:
"In Speedball, players will compete in a high stakes sport featuring visceral takedowns, with the most brutal relived via the in-game slow motion camera. Matches are fast-paced, explosive and unpredictable.
Alongside mastering high-speed passing, coordination and shooting during matches, players will also need to select, position and organise their team based on their stars’ strengths, weaknesses and cybernetic augmentations. Will your team be known for all-out aggression, or will you develop a defensive powerhouse?"
According to Rebellion, the plan is for the game to be in Early Access for 12 months, with the roadmap including new modes, as well as a team management and draft system, player and manager progression, cosmetics, skins, and arenas. These will be added during the Early Access period, based on player feedback from the game's community.
You can download the game now from Steam. It currently costs £14.99 but will rise in price as more features and content are added.