I knew subsequent to nothing about Impasse after I received playtest entry a pair weeks again. I hadn’t checked out any illicit YouTube gameplay footage. I hadn’t perused the then-unsanctioned subreddit. Working with solely the obscure consciousness that Valve was making a 3rd particular person MOBA shooter, I fired up the closed alpha with out realizing what I would be taking a look at. Scifi, possibly? Valve does a variety of scifi stuff, proper?
As a substitute, as the principle menu loaded, I used to be met with a spooky strings-and-piano monitor straight out of a Tim Burton joint because the digital camera sank between metropolis buildings to choose a smoky metropolis road suffering from candles and spectral pigeons. A burly, bespectacled half-demon detective leaned in opposition to the entryway to a type of occult nook retailer, its exterior adorned with hanging bells, crow feathers, and a banner promoting its sale of “BEER, TALISMANS, GROCERIES.” On the finish of the block, a distant troop of candle-headed puppets marched in lockstep throughout the intersection.
“Welcome to the Cursed Apple,” Impasse’s tutorial exclaimed. I couldn’t have been extra thrilled.
If there is a time period for the aesthetic of Impasse’s accursed alt-New York, I do not comprehend it. Occultpunk, possibly? Neo Wiccanoir? Its present hero roster features a fedora-wearing, interplanar pyromaniac, a dwelling gargoyle, a femme fatale with a haunted arm, and a Columbia professor who received became a star in a bottle by a spacetime gap. In-game, you battle alongside battalions of candle golems throughout metropolis streets lit by artwork nouveau streetlamps so you’ll be able to battle the opposing staff’s towering eldritch idols.
There are ritual circles on the rooftops. There are phantoms peering out from open elevators. The Cursed Apple is a metropolis the place everyone seems to be dabbling in forces that no one must be. It is somewhat bit steampunk, somewhat bit pulp horror, and rather a lot Fallen London; the wardrobes could be from the Nineteen Thirties, however the black magic bodega nonetheless has an ATM sticker on the entrance door. No matter you name it, Impasse’s vibe is refreshingly bizarre.
There’s a variety of Dota 2 DNA within the character design language of Impasse’s heroes, but it surely’s a forged that feels extra cohesive, even in its early growth state. The place Dota 2’s roster was constructed round a scattershot of remixed Warcraft 3 heroes, Impasse’s disparate character ideas—from the pompadoured monster hunter to the strolling junkpile—really feel like Valve reveling in a setting that it could sketch out from scratch, one thing the studio hasn’t achieved since Staff Fortress 2. It is an early glimpse at a metropolis-sized melting pot of cultures, creatures, arcana, and the occasional man manufactured from goo.
And never solely that: It is humorous. Impasse’s map is way from completed, but it surely’s already scattered with pleasant bits of worldbuilding absurdity. Parked tankers and vans carry branding for “Fogwell’s Bioluminescence” or “5 Eyes Meats (from focus),” whereas advertisements for a agency of reanimation specialists are providing free estimates and same-day service on “fluid restoration” and “mortal preservation.” It is an echo of the type of Valve humor that I cherished in TF2’s class shorts and merchandise descriptions, filtered by means of a world the place you should purchase occult items on the identical place you get your produce.
I am not a MOBA man. Having to make potential and merchandise construct selections mid-game makes me really feel afraid. However Impasse’s aesthetic is already so compelling that I am keen to abdomen my incompetence if it means getting to observe Valve fill its newest sandbox.