Glitchrunners is a cartoony, asymmetric local multiplayer game that borrows from a variety of game types including platformers, beat-em-ups, and even table-top RPGs to deliver a thrilling, action-packed gaming experience.
In Glitchrunners, up to four players can join in on the mayhem as they race across a deadly obstacle course, jumping across platforms, destroying objects to rack up points, and dodging stupendous explosions. Of course, players don’t necessarily have to work together to overcome their obstacles; sabotage is perfectly acceptable, encouraged even. A fifth player can hook up a second screen to play as the Architect, a sort of dungeon-master role that has the ability to manipulate the obstacle course to impede the progress of the Glitchrunners.
There are two modes available in the Glitchrunners demo: the Glitch Run mode challenges players to sprint through a gauntlet of obstacles while collecting points and dodging the Architect’s assassination attempts while the Arena mode pits players against one another in either Deathmatch, King of the Hill or Powercube matches.
Glitchrunners’ aesthetic is, for lack of a better term, quite juvenile. All the objects and characters in the world feel like they’ve been plucked straight out of a Lego Duplo set, but that cartoony, child-like appearance is appealing, capturing the whimsy of similarly styled games like Joe Danger. The addition of customizable characters during character selection is another thoughtful touch, adding a much-welcomed splash of personalization to the Glitchrunners.
It’s unfortunate that Glitchrunners has restricted itself to local play only, as the game seems tailor-made for online play. It’s also more than a little bizarre that the developers haven’t considered building the game for the Wii U, which seems like a more logical choice than the Xbox One for a console port. Even with this oversight, Glitchrunners is shaping up to be a solid party title well worth trying out with a couple of friends. The full release of Glitchrunners is set to hit online stores Q2 2016.
Note: The game requires at least one gamepad (preferably Xbox 360) to play. The Architect player must play on another computer, connected over a local area network to the main PC/Mac.
Download The Glitchrunners Beta Demo Here (Win & Mac)