Solely developed by Zeke Virant, Soft Body is coming to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita later this year, complete with cross-buy.
Described as an “action-puzzle game that infuses the twin-stick shooter with a surreal sense of control and style,” you take control of two gooey snakes at the same time, controlling one with each analog stick. Dodging bullets and enemies, you use the snakes to paint the continually changing world.
“Both soothing and tense,” the descriptions reads, “Soft Body combines the challenge and twitchy fun of quick-restart action games with a smooth, meditative aesthetic.”
Virant talked about Soft Mode and Hard Mode, which you can play in single-player:
With Soft Mode, I wanted to create a game that offered a smooth difficulty curve and levels that flowed into each other visually and aurally. I understood that learning to control two characters at the same time is a complicated affair, and so I designed a mode that could facilitate people gradually learning the game’s mechanics and rules.
In Soft Mode, you take control of the Soft Body and the Ghost Body but are not always required to control them at the same time. By default, the Ghost Body is attached to the Soft Body and will follow it around — but separating the two bodies is simple. By pushing the right analog stick from its centered resting position, the Ghost Body detaches from the Soft Body and becomes independent. If the right analog-stick returns to its resting point for one second, the Ghost Body will automatically return to the Soft Body and reattach. That being said, Soft Mode is not “Easy,” but it’s certainly not as tough as Hard Mode.
With Hard Mode, I wanted to take full advantage of the game’s unique, brain-splitting mechanics. I wanted to make something that could push people to master the challenge of controlling two things at the same time — something stoically difficult, unforgiving, but fair and rewarding. Hard Mode gives you control of both bodies at the same time, all the time. If either body is popped by an enemy or a projectile, it’s game over, and you restart from the beginning of the level.
What do you think of Soft Body?
[Source: PS Blog]
