Stay frosty

2D side-scrolling shooters are a tough genre to tackle. Sure, it's simple enough for developers to make one and call it a day, but it's easy for these games to fall into the trap of being generic and unable to stand out. What does Ruffian Games have in mind to jump over that obstacle? With its work on the Xbox 360 exclusive Crackdown 2 and other miscellaneous collaborations, the developer has been given the green light by publisher Paradox Interactive, and joins the PlayStation 4 fray with Hollowpoint.

In a future when it seems as though all human life is valued and the lucrative pursuit of economics is thought to meet all needs, there still lies corruption and rivalry beneath the surface among the world's biggest corporations. In Hollowpoint, you're assigned as a mercenary to engage in these secretive wars in the 22nd century, and by amassing your own operatives and defeating other hired killers, you can climb to the top and create the most feared Organisation that the world has ever seen.

On the PlayStation Blog, creative director Billy Thomson describes his team's game as "a highly tactical, four player co-operative action game featuring a blend of fast paced 2D platform shooter gameplay with precision-based 3D shooter gameplay". From the trailer, we were indeed surprised to see a 2.5D presentation; everything plays out from a 2D perspective, but you play in a 3D space where you can not only move left and right, but also forward and backward.

The main objective of the game is to accrue XP and Credits from whatever procedurally generated missions you choose to embark on, which you can then use to customise the skills and class focuses of your operatives a la Borderlands 2. In addition, you can buy Asset Packs from the in-game market. "These Packs contain everything from new Operatives, Weapons, Equipment, and Power Ups, as well as the Upgrades that can be applied to them," explains Thomson.

With deep customisation systems and a neat spin on the 2D side-scrolling shooter genre, Hollowpoint makes a bullseye of an impression, even with its Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare-esque story premise. What are your thoughts on this fresh addition to the slew of new PS4 titles? Fire away in the comments below.

[source blog.us.playstation.com]