5th Cell opened its doors in 2003, and the development house quickly established a reputation for creating quality quirky titles such as Drawn To Life and Scribblenauts. Over the weekend, co-founder Joe Tringali revealed his new home at Digital Continue, and his first project, Next Up Hero.
Next Up Hero is a “community brawler” that asks players to team up to defeat bigger and bigger foes. The twist is that only one player enters the game world at a time, though they’ll be accompanied by the ghosts of all the players that died before them to form the ultimate army:
Choose from nine heroes with an assortment of weapons and abilities to suit your playstyle, from swords and rocket launchers to laser turrets, bongo drums, and boomerangs.
When you die, you’ll leave behind an Echo of your hero on the battlefield. The next in the line of heroes will be able to resurrect your Echo as an AI battle companion. Take turns continuing friends’ games, fighting and dying until you have an entire army of Echoes by your side, and enough strength to finally defeat those jerk monsters. Everyone dies. Heroes continue.
Next Up Hero will be released through Steam’s Early Access program later this year, with a full launch for the PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One scheduled for Early 2018. The game’s first trailer has been embedded above.
