Parts of the gaming world were surprised when Channel 4, a free-to-air British TV station with a penchant for great comedy and cutting documentaries, announced they were going to be getting into video games. For a broadcaster who has been a staunch supporter of independent film (with their Film4 movie production company, now also their movie channel) and at the forefront of online distribution (with their 40D video on demand service, recently re-branded as All4) the step into video games perhaps isn’t such a vast leap after all.
All 4 Games – Channel 4’s new gaming subsidiary – positions itself as a publisher, rather than a developer. It offers funding and guidance to independent developers to release multi-platform games under their collective label, and their latest offering is almost upon us: Super Arc Light will be coming to Apple and Android devices later this month.
Developed by Glasgow-based No Code Studios – a team whose BAFTA-winning members can boast titles such as Alien: Isolation in their portfolio – Super Arc Light is a fast-paced arcade-style shooter, based around the simple premise of defending your circular area against endless waves of enemy attack using simple one-button controls. Think of it like a bullet hell game but you’re tethered to a stick in the middle of the yard, and you’re not far away.
Its geometric style looks looks great and is lightning fast, but also, Super Arc Light is full of flashing images and sudden screen changes, so as a result has to carry a photosensitive epilepsy warning on the trailer. I’d probably go even further than that, and say that Super Arc Light looks like the pure essence of epilepsy distilled in video game form, and I probably wouldn’t recommend watching it if you suffer from migraines or have any light sensitivity issues at all. But then, I’m not a doctor, just a guy who got a headache from a 37-second trailer.
You have been warned.
[youtube url=”https://youtu.be/QH2Ze0MWTS8″ autoplay=”no”]Side note: Can the entire world please agree to never, ever turn footage from Super Arc Light into an animated GIF and post it on Twitter? The autoplay GIF feature is going to be a nightmare.
