THE CHRONOS EVENT
The Chronos Event is an upcoming third-person rogue-lite shooter from Superjump Games. In The Chronos Event, you are a female protagonist who can control time and execute what the developers call "time-looping." When you time-loop, not only can you rewind time, but you also create an echo of yourself that assists you for a short duration.
During the demo, the controls felt sharp and intuitive, allowing for a seamless gaming experience. Dodging and sliding around the area was not just fun but also engaging, and the combat was more than just a challenge-it was a rewarding experience. The developers have promised that the final game will be more challenging, but the well-balanced difficulty level of the demo was just right, providing a sense of accomplishment without being frustratingly hard. In the game, you face waves of enemies that drop health or their guns. There are stations between levels where you can acquire boosts, such as enhanced weapons, increased damage, or health recovery from melee attacks. You might even get an upgrade to wield two guns, reminiscent of another well-known female video game character. As a rogue-lite, the game offers progression even upon death, as noted on Superjump Games' site: "When defeat comes, it's not the end." When you die, you encounter a mysterious character who seems to be observing the player. This raises a few questions about their identity and relationship with the protagonist. Upon dying, you receive upgrades to apply to your next run, such as increased health, damage, or extended looping time.
What really stands out in The Chronos Event is its fast-paced combat, embodying the epitome of "run and gun." At first, there is a learning curve, as with any new game, but once you master the controls and abilities, the game truly shines. Defeating waves of enemies becomes both enjoyable and rewarding. The sci-fi world created by Superjump Games is simple yet satisfying. With plans to add voice acting and incorporate feedback from PAX attendees, The Chronos Event promises to be a fun, fast-paced, and rewarding experience. If you're looking for an engaging rogue-lite shooter, The Chronos Event is definitely worth your attention.
Sam: And welcome to PAX West 2024. My name is Sam, and I am here with a very special guest. Go ahead and introduce yourself and the game that you're with.
Phillip: Hello. My name is Phillip Morales, and I'm with The Chronos Event. And it's a third-person roguelike shooter. And time travel is your main ability— the ability to rewind time and re-enter the timeline.
Sam: And what really got you to make this game?
Phillip: Well, we love shooters like Returnal. We love games like Vanquish. We love games like Doom 2016, where it's all about moving and movement and agility and just speed. Running into an arena and just shooting, you know, like tearing it up.
Sam: Yeah.
Phillip: And so we wanted to combine all those elements of looking good, feeling good, agility, mobility, and kicking some ass.
Sam: Alright!
Phillip: And looking good doing it.
Sam: Absolutely, absolutely. So, with this game here, what are you most excited about?
Phillip: Well, the ability to rewind time, re-enter the timeline, and kind of assist yourself, it really feels amazing because it feels like a superpower. It feels like you're Neo in the Matrix. It really is something you don't do often. You know, as a human, we don't really travel back in time much. So the ability to do that and then assist yourself is quite cool in concept, and then now that we have it like in reality, it's even better than we could have imagined. So we're super proud about that.
Sam: Being able to play the demo, I can't really remember another game like you said, Returnal, but like, Returnal didn't have a copy of myself helping me take down the bad guys, which I honestly, really do enjoy that part of the game. And also, the movement is, even in the demo, just smooth. I'm sliding around the arena, shooting people, like you said, having a good time.
Phillip: Yes!
Sam: And I think for me, at least, like a lot of games, kind of miss that. Now it's like I kind of just want to have a good time. And this game, to me, is a good time, also being a roguelike, but again, having that kind of save state, in a way, where I got to a certain part of the game, I'm not losing all my progress. I am being able to save here, which, again, as much as I do like roguelikes, I enjoy not having to go back to zero. Where it's like, ‘Ah, I don't have to go back over these levels again’. With this [game] being able to kind of bypass that is something that I do enjoy.
Phillip: Yes.
Sam: So, I know I talked to a few other guys here. You guys are working on this for a little while now.
Phillip: Yes.
Sam: If you could go back to day one and tell yourself, ‘Hey, do this instead.’ What would one of those things be?
Phillip: Let me think, ‘cause we've now kind of reached that point now, and like, there was no shortcut to getting there. But, for example, when you're rewinding time and coming in to assist yourself, stuff like that, it's not possible in real life.
Sam: Right.
Phillip: So that's something we worked on hard, to at least start to feel right and feel intuitive. And that would be probably the first thing that I would say, like, yeah, really focus on getting that right. And then number two, with this game, is we wanted you to just, like, we talked about the flow, like moving through the space fluidly.
Sam: Mhmm.
Phillip: We not only wanted you to feel good, but we wanted you to look good doing it, right?
Sam: Yeah.
Phillip: Like, you're kicking ass. You're a superhero. So it not only should be intuitive, it needs to look good, too, right? Like, it's all of these things. So it's taken us, like, a long time to get there, and it would be nice to be able to go back in time and say, ‘Yeah, focus on these things because it's going to pay off’.
Sam: Right, yeah. A game about time travel that allows you to go back in time, right? Um, for new devs, someone who has their own idea, any advice to them?
Phillip: Yes, I would strongly encourage you to pursue it. Um, don't let anyone or anything be an obstacle because everything can be an obstacle if you let it. Don't let it. If you have something that you see, pursue it. Work on making it happen. It's very, very important. Make it happen.
Sam: Now, for this game here, I know it's on Steam. Where else can they find more information about the game?
Phillip: We do have a website, TheChronosEvent.com
Sam: Gotcha, again. Wishlist on Steam.
Phillip: Yes, please.
Sam: Go to the website. You guys have social media as well?
Phillip: We do have social media that we're just starting out. So any likes, follows, we deeply appreciate that. We really would. It helps us out tremendously. It really does.
Sam: Alright, so thank you for taking this time out with me again. I'm Sam here with Game Raven at PAX [West] 2024 with The Chronos Event. Thank you so much.
Phillip: Sam, thank you. We really appreciate it.
