The Showdown Effect

The Showdown Effect is an action game developed by Arrowhead Game Studios in cooperation with Pixeldiet Entertainment and published by Paradox Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game was released on 5 March 2013 via digital distribution on Steam.

The Showdown Effect
Developer(s)Arrowhead Game Studios, Pixeldiet Entertainment
Publisher(s)Paradox Interactive
Director(s)Johan Pilestedt
Producer(s)Axel Lindberg (Arrowhead)
Mats Anderson (Pixeldiet)
Designer(s)Emil Englund
Johan Pilestedt
Artist(s)Carl Brännström
Malin Hedström
EngineBitsquid
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
Release5 March 2013
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Multiplayer

The game has a strong inspiration in exploitation films of the 1980s and 1990s, with all characters being one of multiple protagonists of these films. Most of the interaction between the characters of the game consists of "one-liners". These one-liners are part of the game's mechanics.[1] The game is set in a futuristic Tokyo in 2027.

Development

The game was announced in February 2012 under the codename "Project JFK", and was unveiled during the Game Developers Conference 2012. The Showdown Effect was developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and co-developed by Pixeldiet Entertainment, their first game on the market.[2] The Showdown Effect was created in the BitSquid video game engine. The pre-game production has begun in late 2011, with only a small part of the Arrowhead team working on the title.[3] In January 2012 the rest of the team left another project they were working together and with the rest of the team at Stockholm, thus giving focus the full The Showdown Effect.

On 8 February 2012, Paradox Interactive has announced that three new games would be revealed at GDC that year, including code name "Project JFK", which would later become The Showdown Effect. On 6 March 2012, the game was revealed to be a "2.5D multiplayer action game where players will participate in deadly battles to win fame."

In an interview to Joystiq, Emil Englund, the game designer of Arrowhead Game Studios, said the idea for The Showdown Effect came when they were working together with Paradox Interactive in creating a game similar to Super Smash Bros.. Moreover, the designer Johan Pilestedt, of The Escapist, said he considered the game a mix between Super Smash Bros. and GoldenEye 007. Pilestedt continued, commenting on some movies that were used for inspiration during the creation of the game, especially in the graphics: "It is close to the work of Tarantino. His films are so violent, but are exaggerated. The blood is not real blood, it's just red water. These exploitation films are a major influence on the violence present in Showdown. " Pilestedt also mentioned to the interviewer that animations in the film Ghost in the Machine and in Team Fortress 2 served as inspiration.

Englund explained the significance of the name of the game, The Showdown Effect: "[...] is the moment where two people meet and they just know they have the look and know they have to battle."[4] Speaking with Kotaku Australia, Fredrik Wester, CEO of Paradox Interactive, commented on the characters of the game, saying that they are all based on characters from action films of the 1980s such as John McClane in Die Hard, Roger Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon or "any movie 1980 with Arnold Schwarzenegger." Each character was created to resemble an archetype of the time, but never tried to imitate a single character.

The team responsible for the game decided not to create a version for consoles, nor add support for gamepad in the version for computers.[5] According to Pilestedt, after testing several different mechanical controls, decided to stay only with the keyboard and mouse because "if you have high damage and you hit all the bullets, the game goes to be about who pulled the trigger first." Due to this, the game has a system where the bullets hit the opponent only if the sight reticle is on the enemy, if otherwise the bullets will hit only the scenario, making a system with gamepad "impossible". However, the version presented during the PAX East of 2012 had full support gamepad, which was removed after discussions about the game focus more on quick reflexes .[6]

Those who registered through the official website, or those who pre-purchased the game, gained access to the closed beta on 1 February 2013.[7]

The game was delisted from Steam on 14 August 2018.[8]

Reception

At the time of release, the game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[9]

References
  1. Joe Martin (5 February 2013). "The Showdown Effect preview". Bit-Tech. Archived from the original on 31 January 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  2. "The Showdown Effect". Pixeldiet Entertaiinment. Archived from the original on 14 March 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  3. Malin Hedström (27 January 2013). "Arrowhead – A semi-brief history". Arrowhead Game Studios. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  4. "The Showdown Effect PC Interview". GameWatcher. 30 April 2012. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  5. Taylor Cocke (31 January 2013). "The Showdown Effect Beta Begins". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on 31 January 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  6. Mike Sharkey (7 February 2013). "The Showdown Effect Q&A with Director Johan Pilestedt". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  7. David Hinkle (1 February 2013). "The Showdown Effect leaps into beta today". Engadget (Joystiq). Yahoo. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  8. "The Showdown Effect (App 204080)". SteamDB. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  9. "The Showdown Effect for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  10. Fraser Brown (14 March 2013). "Review: The Showdown Effect". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on 9 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  11. Edge staff (15 March 2013). "The Showdown Effect review". Edge. Future plc. Archived from the original on 20 March 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  12. Dan Whitehead (11 March 2013). "The Showdown Effect review". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  13. Florian Heider (21 March 2013). "The Showdown Effect im Test - Rest in Pieces!". GameStar (in German). Webedia. Archived from the original on 9 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  14. Bradly Halestorm (13 March 2013). "Review: The Showdown Effect". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 9 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  15. Nathan Grayson (18 March 2013). "The Showdown Effect Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  16. James Archer (23 March 2013). "The Showdown Effect review". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on 9 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  17. "The Showdown Effect". PC Games (in German). Computec. March 2013.
  18. Ben Lee (14 March 2013). "Downloadable game reviews: Runner2, Showdown Effect, Nano Assault EX". Digital Spy. Hearst Communications. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
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