2K and developer 31st Union are throwing their hats into the trendy game ring with Project Ethos, a roguelike hero shooter with an emphasis on co-operative gameplay.
There isn’t much information available about the game right now; its new Steam page describes it as a “free-to-play third-person roguelike hero shooter” that’s currently in development, and there’s not much more info besides that.
However, a few screenshots have been released alongside said Steam page, and they show a game that looks an awful lot like Overwatch or even Fortnite, all smoothed-over character designs and pseudo-cartoony visuals.
According to an early IGN preview, Project Ethos is also an extraction shooter, with its main gameplay mode apparently taking after the likes of Escape from Tarkov or Gray Zone Warfare to some degree.
Given how early the game is in development, it’s not entirely encouraging that IGN’s previewer ends their time with the game by saying that it “fails at being a new experience that players will crave…over and over again”.
Other gameplay modes in Project Ethos are described as “cookie-cutter and unexciting”, and honestly, the character designs in the game are already giving me Concord vibes, which, given the fate of that game, probably isn’t what 2K wants to hear.
I don’t want to be pessimistic about Project Ethos before it’s even seen the light of day (and, of course, before I’ve even played it), but what 2K and 31st Union have released so far makes me question whether the gaming industry really needs another game like this right now.
If you want to get a chance to try out Project Ethos, 2K says it’s live for a single playtest this weekend before the developers head back in to continue working on the game.
You can sign up for the playtest here, but the catch is that you’ll need to watch at least 30 minutes of a Twitch “partner creator” playing the game in order to secure a drop that contains the key.
On the signup page, you’ll also find an outline of what kind of PC specs you’ll need to play Project Ethos, as well as which countries can take part and more. Happy hunting!
