The Behemoth’s Pit People is an upcoming turn-based fighting game for the Xbox One. I got to talk to The Behemoth’s Megan Lam about it at PAX Prime this year.
Pit People used to go by Game 4, as in The Behemoth’s fourth game. Lam told me that the name “Pit People” had actually been part of the concept art for the game, but no one thought it would stick.
Pit People is the story of a bunch of characters who come together as the world is sort of ending; the planet has collided with a giant space bear, whose acidic blood is raining down on the world. This might sound a bit grim, the game is absolutely hilarious. “You have everyone sort of meet in the pit, which is more commonly known as the arena,” Lam said. “They start fighting with each other as a team. That’s where all of the cast starts rebuilding their life.”
Will Stamper, who narrated BattleBlock Theater, returns as the narrator of this game as well. His narrator is a bit sadistic and definitely doesn’t like being disobeyed. His turns of phrase made me laugh out loud while I played the demo. About the narrator’s lines, Lam says, “He has a lot of flexibility. He creates a lot of it on his own,”
The turn-based fighting of Pit People is different from what you might have experienced before. Strategy is heavily reliant on positioning. Horatio, who carries a huge shield, is best suited to front-line combat because he can block attacks. Enemies with helmets should be targeted by characters carrying heavy weapons like maces, which do more damage.
It simplifies turn-based combat quite a bit, but in this case simple doesn’t mean boring. Especially when it came to fights with large groups of enemies. Since the enemies are very mobile as well, I was constantly thinking about how I could move my characters—whether to better attack, or better avoid being crushed. In one case I was down to one fighter and had her leading a group of enemies on a merry chase around the battlefield until they finally surrounded me and, turn by turn, smashed the life out of me. Whoops.
After the introductions of the main characters, Pit People has you fulfilling quests that you receive in the game’s town. You can also fight in the Arena, AKA, the Pit. Lam says that the game will offer some resolution to the characters’ stories–we’ll have to wait and see!
“You’ll be able to do two-player couch co-op and two-player online, as well as 2v2,” Lam told me.
Couch co-op is a big draw to me, and online matchmaking with friends will be easy too. I love to play games with my roommates, and I know a lot of people who love to game with their families.
