Project Cyber Preview – The next big eSports title

By Kevin Mitchell Posted on April 24, 2014

Spearhead Games first title, the physics-based puzzle game Tiny Brains showed promise, using a handful of different powers to create a unique cooperative experience. Upon completion of the story mode, the bulk of my time was spent in the Soccer game mode, pitting teams of two against each other in a competitive soccer match using all of the physics-based powers.

Expanding on this concept, Spearhead Games has created what possible could be the next big eSports title with Project Cyber. Only in a pre-alpha state, the team has given out Steam keys to anyone who has requested, with the total well over the 60,000 mark. The game also isn’t being developed using industry standard methods by any means. Instead, they are using the power of the community to drive the development of the game. If you don’t believe it, go ahead and watch them work on the game five days a week, they stream their office during the day and play against the community at night with the latest build.

Going hands-on with the game at PAX East for the first time, Marcus and I took on a couple members of the development team on a 2-on-2 match (the game is meant to be played with 3-on-3). The first thing I noted was the visual style is dramatically different than what was seen inTiny Brains, except for the strong focus on color. Matches in Project Cyber take place on a futuristic cyberpunk floating playing field in the sky, lit up by numerous bright neon lights.

Even in a pre-alpha state, the game is fully playable, albeit simplistic at the moment, as players control one of the three unique champions. I played as the Vengeful Star, blasting a projectile that will propel the disk (the ball) on impact. While it can be used in defensive ways, I opted for an offensive approach, deflecting the disk right past defenders and into the open goal a handful of times. Her ultimate ability allowed her to swap places with the disk, useful as a last ditch effort if all else fails on defense.

Marcus on the other hand, took control of The Negotiator, a massive robot that works best as a goalie. Much like the chubby blue hamster from Tiny Brains, he is capable of projecting a force field to keep the disk from going into the goal. Each of the champions are able to push the disk at close range, but the offensive Vexwrecker is able to override everyone else and take control of the disk. From what we were told, there are plans to add plenty more of unique champions in the future, much like you would see in MOBA games.

The biggest challenge facing Project Cyber is the implementation of an ambitious feature to allow spectators to affect matches. We were told that the goal is to have anyone viewing live streams, to trigger certain events. Obviously our match wasn’t being live streamed (although we won, so maybe it should have been), but Spearhead Games did trigger an event that mimicked blizzard like winds that pushed everything on the playing field to one direction. There is a lot of potential here, as new events can be introduced in the game with regularity.

To request your Steam key, head to Spearhead Games and don’t forget to share your ideas with the development team on Twitch at 7:00 pm Eastern.

Keep your eyes peeled to SelectButton for some exclusive live stream events in collaboration with Spearhead Games.