The indie studio FUMES Team will very soon launch its first title, FUMES, in early access. Its official date is next July 28th, which is less than 2 months away, but right now you can already try what this is about by downloading its free demo on Steam. I’ve personally tried it and I must say that right away it’s gripping and fun, with that kind of action that quickly becomes addictive. FUMES offers crazy driving and vehicular combat with deadly weapons of different calibers, whether it’s between fast little cars or while assaulting massive mobile fortresses that will lead us to impressive boss fights.
Its aesthetic is a mix of the smoothness we could expect in any modern title, with retro pixel-art graphics, which, together with the available car models, will always make us feel like we’re in a large-scale demolition derby taking place in the 80s. Its procedural environments are endless, ideal for the kind of battles we’ll fight in them, with no abrupt limits, just trees or different types of geography. If you want to get an idea of what I’m talking about, I invite you to go see it for yourself in the Official Early Access Date Trailer just below these lines, brought to you by GameTrailers:
Crazy Driving and Lots of Gunfights in an Endless Open World
The aesthetic of FUMES easily reminds me of some games that, at the time, managed to make history, at least in their own way, though we’ll get to that further below. What we have here is a fun and addictive driving and combat game between armed and customized cars with endless firearms and various devices, while we complete missions and become stronger and stronger. This single-player game offers driving physics inspired by old rally games from the 90s, where we’ll face countless enemies both in open world and in impressive off-road challenges.
FUMES will launch in July and according to its developers it will be in early access for about a year, during which they will gather information from the player base roaming the desert wastelands across various biomes, which will show post-apocalyptic remnants, ruined cities, and countless enemies, as well as gigantic rolling fortresses that will lead us to impressive and challenging boss fights, which will demand the best of our reflexes and coordination. Can you picture it? Don’t. Just go ahead and try the free demo like I did, I assure you that you won’t regret it!
This title is inspired by the golden age of the vehicular combat genre. In it we’ll enjoy straightforward, fast and intense gameplay, with no fuss or fine print. Just our car, our weapons, and an endless world ahead, which could definitely be ours, like in the old days, doesn’t sound bad, right? The ingredients are ready: customizable cars, more-than-fun driving physics, countless enemies and different missions, among which we’ll even find driving challenges or races, and as if that weren’t enough, GIANT BOSSES whose battles will give us new cars or unique parts.
No loading screens. No fast travel. Just drive and shoot!
What Does It Remind Me Of?
When I saw the video, two very clear references came to my mind, with quite a difference in genres between them, which is obviously a good thing, and also far apart in time. On one hand, a racing and open world driving game simply called 1nsane, from the year 2000, developed by Invictus Games and published by Codemasters and Fireshine Games, which allowed us to run several different challenges in an open world with just a few instructions. Among those challenges were truck races, big SUVs and different game modes like simple races, others through checkpoints, and flag captures, or even base captures, the last two being in my opinion the most fun modes in the game. Given its age, 1nsane can no longer be found on conventional platforms, but it’s still available in physical format on places like eBay or Amazon, or if you want you can also find its sequel Insane 2 (2012) on Steam.
The other game, I must say, is much older: Interestate ‘76, from 1997 developed and published by Activision Blizzard, which could only be played back then on Microsoft Windows and Nintendo 64, was without a doubt one of the pioneers of car battle games on highways and deserts, almost at the same time Twisted Metal was being born, but unlike that one, Interestate ‘76 had a strong narrative focus, and the possibility of driving through more open spaces whose distances were longer in every sense, which turned the world into a huge place to explore, even more so in those early years of open worlds. Those of you who remember this iconic game will understand the clear reference, and why FUMES reminds me of it so much, even because of its retro aesthetic, which, like pretty much everything else I’ve mentioned before, is obviously a positive thing too!
So…
I can speak confidently, since I’ve played the demo for a few hours and believe me gamer, it’s totally worth it! Now, since you’ve made it this far and are waiting for the recap: FUMES will launch in early access on July 28th, so you should already be adding it to your Steam Wishlist right now, and yes, of course, the link is right below. Also, if you want to know why I picked it, or why I’ve given it my seal of approval, you can download its free demo RIGHT NOW and judge it for yourself! What are you waiting for? And while you’re at it, once you’ve tried it, come back here and tell me what you think! Deal? You know gamer, we’ll be reading you! 😉
Images Source: GameTrailers Official YouTube Channel, FUMES on Steam
