If you ever wanted to excite me, have a little bird tell me that Goldeneye 64 is making a comeback. I put hundreds of hours into that game, in both single- and multiplayer. I spent nearly all of my time in multiplayer wanting to punch friends in the face ’cause they followed a unique strategy I could never bring myself to use: watching my corner of the split-screen game, camping out, waiting for me to come around a corner and picking up an easy kill.
Aussie indie studio Samurai Punk has seemingly tapped into my soul and decided to make a game where I have to ‘screen cheat’ — after all, that’s the name of their game. The result is an absolute gem of a party game, old-school style with lots of kill or be killed mayhem.
Screencheat‘s hook is that on-screen enemies can’t be seen, forcing you to look at other sections of a split-screen match — either 2- to 4-way — to figure out where they are and what they’re doing. Levels are colour-coded and dotted with landmarks to make this exercise even easier — or, harder, depending whether or not you’re the hunter or the hunted. Said landmarks can include things like elevators or jump pads, with make traversal fun and also puts some verticality into a match. Actually, scratch that — the game is primarily vertical, with a little, um… horizontality… thrown in for good measure.
When it comes to tools of destruction, the game has a wide array of weapons to choose from, including normal rifles and blunderbusses to the downright odd candelabra or remote bear bomb.
The game has five maps to choose from, alongside five modes, which means Screencheat will feel fresh for some time to come. I had a blast with friends (thanks for helping, guys) just hitting up random maps and modes, playing well into the night. The game’s modes include Deathmatch, Hill Campers (aka King of the Hill), One Shot (speaks for itself, really), Capture the Fun (go and get a unicorn) and Murder Mystery. The latter is like Cluedo, tasking you to kill a specific player with a specific weapon.
While I had a great time playing, the game’s best with four players. Single-player isn’t a thing in Screencheat — for good reason, I suppose; how would you program AI to screen cheat, really — so you’ll be limited to playing when it suits others. It’s truly a party game that demands not only numbers, but relationships with those you play against. After all, it’s SO much more rewarding to camp out and kill a mate rather than a random, right? Just remember the context in which I’ve written that last sentence, please. At any rate, it’s the real need for three friends at your place that really lets the game down in the end.
Screencheat is exclusive to PC.
Screencheat was reviewed using a promotional copy of the game on PC, as provided by Surprise Attack.
