Watch On
Again in 2023, Nidhogg developer Messhof unveiled its new sport, a trendy racing sport known as Ghost Bike that units gamers off on a quest to revive the the final of the Ghost Bikes, “magical couriers who rode between the world of the residing and the world of the lifeless.” Ghost Bike was re-revealed throughout in the present day’s Xbox showcase with a brand new title—Wheel World—and, sorry to say, a brand new, extra distant launch date: As an alternative of popping out this 12 months as deliberate, it is now set for launch in early 2025.
The brand new title displays a shift within the sport’s narrative, which has modified to accommodate “various iterations by way of gameplay and construction” because the sport was first introduced.
“On the level final 12 months when it felt proper to announce the venture, we got here up with the title Ghost Bike based mostly on the place the narrative was,” Messhol’s Mak Essen and Kristy Norindr defined on Steam. “It was a sport about dying on a motorbike after being hit by a automotive and ending up in a biking Valhalla.
“Whereas it wasn’t immediately based mostly on actual world ghost bikes (these white bikes memorializing cyclists killed by drivers), there was sufficient overlap to really feel just like the title was justified and the associations could be a optimistic one from each instructions. However as issues modified within the gameplay (to make it extra enjoyable to play), and thus the story (particularly in tone) it match much less and fewer.”
Wheel World because it stands now could be “in regards to the pleasure and freedom of residing round bikes,” they mentioned. “Whether or not simply to get round, exploring a brand new route by a well-recognized place, or simply tinkering with them and discovering your personal completely satisfied medium between kind and performance.”
Your mileage might range on this entrance however frankly, that sounds lots much less attention-grabbing to me. Racing video games are tremendous however come on, “biking Valhalla” is a hook. However there’s clearly nonetheless some bizarre stuff occurring in Wheel World, and a heavy supernatural accountability stays: You may race, you will discover, you will customise your bike “with an limitless array of components,” and, oh sure, you will fulfill your future by performing The Nice Shift ritual to avoid wasting the world. So that is undoubtedly not nearly pumping pedals.
Messhof is well-known for the excellent Nidhogg video games, each of which we cherished, nevertheless it’s additionally noteworthy that Wheel World is being printed by Annapurna Interactive, which famously imploded in September. Annapurna subsequently indicated that it was “targeted on shifting ahead” with its Interactive division, and was nonetheless accepting pitches from builders because it employed substitute workers. Clearly the scenario has stabilized not less than sufficient to allow Annapurna Interactive to proceed engaged on present offers.
