Max Payne spiritual successor El Paso, Elsewhere is coming in September
El Paso, Elsewhere the supernatural shoot-’em-up from prolific developers Strange Scaffold, has announced a September release date on both PC and Xbox.
The third-person shooter is being directed by Xalavier Nelson Jr, who is also voicing the main character James Savage and performing several rap tracks for the game’s soundtrack. The announcement of the release date came bundled in with the animated music video Stay Awake, a track recorded for that album.
Oddly, Strange Scaffold is usually so eclectic with games like Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator and Sunshine Shuffle that this more traditional shooter actually feels more unusual than their usual offerings. Maybe it’s just more evidence of the developers’ off-the-wall style.
The game is a love letter to third-person PS2-era shooters like Max Payne, with Remedy’s classic specifically cited as the game with the most influence on the title. As someone who has played both, I can say it feels very similar in the way that it plays, particularly with the shoot dodging and dual weapons. Staff writer Elie Gould got their hands on it, and, in their El Paso, Elsewhere preview, they said: “While the third-person shooting is familiarly fun, the most important feature has to be the slow motion dives.”
This should feel heartening to any Max Payne fan out there. I know I’m excited to be giving it a go.
Fun ethical disclaimer: not only do I think Xalavier Nelson Jr is kind of a cool dude and we’re friends, but I also play Fortnite with him semi-regularly. This isn’t why I’ve written about the game, and honestly if anything I’m quite annoyed that he hasn’t yet carried me to a single victory. James Daly, who works on sister brand Future Games Show, gets me a win every lunchtime on average, and so if anything Nelson Jr’s lack of success makes me less likely to write about his game. I just think the game looks very cool, okay?
In other big games new, Nintendo emulator Dolphin is no longer going to release on Steam after the development team had a run in with Nintendo’s legal team.
