Gang Beasts is a a very silly fighting game with an odd control scheme, reminiscent of Surgeon Simulator, that features some adorable, comically animated characters.
Bearing in mind that this is a very early build, as a fighting game it’s (intentionally) technically pretty terrible, with an awkward control scheme and clumsy characters that make the game extremely entertaining. There are a selection of interesting environments for you to fight on, such as moving lorries and Ferris wheels, with an aim to shove the other players off or into hazards, leaving you the last man standing.
Your characters move-set is pretty sparse, with the only actions available to you being jump, grab and pummel. Grabs are done with the shoulder buttons of an Xbox control pad (it’s best played with a control pad), allowing you to grab onto enemies, scenery and objects with your left and right hands. If you grab an objects or people with both hands then you’ll lift them over your head. That’s pretty much the extent of the controls at the moment and it can lead to some very silly, slapstick brawls, especially with 4 players playing at a time, trying to grab and position the other players so that they’ll fall to their doom.
The Pre-Alpha is obviously still very early in development and there are lots of improvements planned by the devs, including new fighting moves (such as kicking, elbowing and head-butting) and new game modes. Hopefully they don’t plan on changing the control scheme too much though as it’s perfectly hilarious fun as it is.
Visit the Steam Greenlight page HERE
Download the Pre-Alpha HERE (Mac & Windows)