MythForce blends Vermintide with ’80s action cartoons

pcgamesn.com:

MythForce makes its intentions clear right from the moment it’s launched: a shining owl sigil gleams as the opening of an upbeat, synth-driven pop theme song kicks in, and you’re transported to the intro sequence of an ’80s action cartoon you’ve never seen before. It’s a co-op game in the vein of Vermintide, but done in a family-friendly style that harkens back to the original runs of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra: Princess of Power.

It’s in the works from Beamdog, a studio RPG game fans will know from its modern remasters of Infinity Engine classics like Baldur’s Gate and Planescape Torment. The developer has shifted gears for its first original game, moving to full 3D and working with Unreal Engine 4.

In MythForce, you take on the role of one of four heroes: there’s valiant knight Victoria, who can hurl her shield like Captain America, or the stealthy hunter Hawkins, who can slip into the spectral realm and pass by enemies unseen. Maggie the Mage can summon an owl familiar or a deflecting shield, while rogue Rico can blind enemies with a fistful of pocket sand.

What’s most striking about MythForce is how well it captures the feel of ’80s animation. Backgrounds look hand-painted and stylized, but any element in the game that moves has the flatter appearance of hand-animated cels, since in an animated series, these elements would have to be redrawn thousands of times.

Beamdog tells us that while the effect it creates looks simple, it’s been a challenge to get everything to look right, mainly because Unreal ‘wants’ to display images that are clearly 3D, with objects taking on lighting and casting shadows the way they do in real life.

For guidelines on how to achieve the animated look in 3D, Beamdog