It takes confidence, and a touch of brass, to launch a new Battle Royale style game into the market in 2021. Across all platforms, the genre has become one of the most oversaturated of the past decade but in the face of this potentially daunting barrier to newcomers, Lilith Games is holding its nerve. Farlight 84, slated for release early next year, comes from the hugely successful mobile developers who are taking their latest offering, and its flagship mode, to mobile and PC audiences for the first time.
Even if you haven’t heard of Lilith Games directly, you’re guaranteed to know of their work. Ranking among the biggest movers on the App Store, Lilith Games have been at the helm of titles such as AFK Arena and Rise of Kingdoms and now all that experience in the industry is being put toward a cross-platform FPS in the form of Farlight 84.
The components of Farlight 84 will be immediately familiar to fans of the genre. A team-based third-person PVP shooter set in a post-apocalypse that sees players gunning for each other in a bid to survive and win the round. You and up to 48 other players will be dropped into the game’s cartoonish yet gritty metropolitan wastelands to duke it out with a variety of weapons and vehicles, the former of which can be used in a first-person aiming mode if you prefer.
Things start to get a little more intriguing with the introduction of the game’s lead mode HUNT which Lilith Games are hoping will set their efforts apart from the pack. In HUNT your team isn’t just in it for outright survival, you’ll also be given another specific team of players to hunt down for bonus points. And of course, you and yours are somebody else’s prey. Once you’ve earned enough points you’ll be given a chance to escape the warzone at a designated pick up point, leaving you vulnerable while you wait for your much-needed ride out of there.
It’s a promising concept on its own, giving players a more focused motivation against others is sure to spark more rivalry than your average blanket killing spree. Farlight 84 will offer three classes at launch, with further player customisation and playstyles available through seven different vehicles, a wide variety of class-specific abilities and, the cherry on top, jetpacks. There are eleven to choose from in the game with each sporting its own distinct play feel – though how I could pick anything other than the one that spews rainbows is beyond me.
As with most newcomers to the genre, Farlight 84 will live or die based on how fun it is to actually play of course. The art direction is a fun mesh of Fortnite’s colourful bombast and a vaguely real-world military sheen. The juxtaposition of those things could prove to be a blast as you and your team set traps and try to trick your foes into deadly chokepoints. Currently, the game is aiming for release in early 2022 but a June closed-beta will give us a much better idea of if Farlight 84 will be hunter or prey.
You can pre-register for the game right here and keep an eye out for hands-on impressions from PowerUp! soon.
