I have to say, I didn’t expect Noobs Are Coming to make such a strong initial impression, but after having just completed my first run, I wanted to quickly share my thoughts and hopefully help boost the game’s reception on this most auspicious of occasions: launch day.
What is Noobs Are Coming?
Noobs Are Coming’s developer, Overboy, declares its sources right off the bat, and the store description of Isaac meets Brotato is rather apt. Isaac for the irreverence and the theory-crafting, Brotato for the tightly-packed arena design and overall structure.
Noobs Are Coming is an auto-shooter, or bullet heaven if you prefer, that takes place in a small square arena that quickly fills up with a mob of enemies. And mob is an apt word to describe them in this instance, because a big part of the game’s charm is its theme; you are an MMORPG boss out to destroy a raiding party of annoying gamers.
The setup, from the arena structure to the menu system, is lifted directly from Brotato (but if you’re going to steal, steal from the best). This borrowed gameplay loop – whereby you grab XP and chests as you dodge the mob, level up items by combining them across multiple weapon slots, pin things in the shop for later, and slowly construct an outrageous build capable of dealing huge damage – allowed me to immediately find my feet and start having fun.
First Impressions
I need to stress that this isn’t a review. I only just downloaded the game today and therefore these are my thoughts after having played the game for an hour or so. However, my first impressions are positive.
The art style is really nice, and the character assets all have a papercraft feel, with funny but clunky movement animations. Games in this genre don’t often boast this level of polish. I’m not saying it couldn’t be more detailed, or that your enemies couldn’t be more reactive to your attaacks, but overall I am satisfied with how it looks.
I especially like the little barks that your noobish opponents blurt out during battle via text above their little chibi heads – there’s a lot of gentle mocking of MMO gamer culture, but as every single one of us has said at least a few of the cringeworthy phrases on display, it’s clear that the humour here is all good natured.
Better than the visuals is the soundtrack, which is dirty, bouncy, and absolutely banging. I had the music up load and I almost never do that, as I usually prefer my own tunes. It’s Savant – Ascent levels of good.
Noobs Are Coming, but when?
As mentioned up top, the game is out as of today, July 15, on PC (Lin, Win). Noobs Are Coming is still only in Early Access, and the plan, according to developer Overboy over of the official Steam Page, is for it to remain that way for 3-6 to months while new content is added.
The Early Access release is currently discounted by 40% and will remain so until July 29, after which the price will rise, and then rise again when it hits 1.0 later this year (ish). I’ll update you here when I know more, and then again with a review when it’s finished.
Finally, it’s worth noting that I played the game via access kindly provided by the developer. Now, watch the trailer below, noob!
