The Showdown Effect is a 2.5D multiplayer action game inspired by 80’s and 90’s action movies where champions from different eras of time fight to the death, for fun, for glory and for awesome. Players will battle for the upper hand through cunning use of different weapons, the game's wide range dynamic environments and even the engine's own dramatic audiovisual effects.

The focus of The Showdown Effect is in recreating the outrageous action found in classic action movies and taking them one step further. Players can pick weaponry from the silver screen's unparallelled arsenal, including shotguns, frying pans, lightsabers, assault rifles, grenades, katanas, gauss guns and anything in between. No explosion is too loud and no bullet dodge is implausible – The Showdown Effect is all about impaling your friend with nearby broomstick and dropping a “Stick around”-taunt as you jetpack heroically off to the next enemy.

Beneath all of this The Showdown Effect is heavily invested in the fundamentals of platforming, providing controls that are responsive and satisfying when it comes to simply running and jumping. Likewise, as a multiplayer game The Showdown Effect will offer all the progressive rewards and unlocks that players have come to love and to cherish.

All players who pre-order the game will be granted instant access to the Beta test, scheduled to begin today, January 31, 2013. The game is now available for pre-purchase where would-be action heroes will have to make the life-or-death decision between getting The Showdown Effect, or getting the Digital Deluxe Edition of The Showdown Effect.

Beta testing for The Showdown Effect begins today, and those heroes whom destiny has chosen (from among the sign-ups on the website) will be gradually invited to do battle with everything and anything they can get their hands on. It will also be possible to join their ranks by pre-ordering the game, granting instant beta access alongside several other bonuses.

Players who pre-order The Showdown Effect will also receive bonus toys, including a new weapon skin, allowing them to wield the deadly Fusion Saber of Light. For those with the guts to pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition, those bonuses will also include two more weapon skins, two bonus outfits including a Magicka robe, and even a free copy of Magicka – suitable for playing, or for gifting an unsuspecting foe right in the face.

Features

• Up to 8 player fast paced cinematic multiplayer action
• Rich, detailed audiovisual feedback
• Context-sensitive movement and combat
• Progress your character and unlock new customization options
• Multiple game modes
• Re-experience the action of your childhood movies across different environments.
• Numerous heroes, dozens of weapons, hundreds of moves - infinite fun.