Bionic Bay is a physics-bending sci-fi platformer that looks like Limbo via Portal

Aug. 21, 2024

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Bionic Bay just got a new trailer, and we’re seeing the sort of casual disregard for physics and gravity that would make Isaac Newton curl up into a ball and start sobbing.

Shown at theFuture Games Showat Gamescom Presented by Sid Meier’s Civilization® VII and published by Kepler Interactive, the new trailer shows off the adventures of a silhouetted protagonist making their way through what looks like rusty junkyards, old factories and forges, and even running along the giant bodies of kaiju-sized robots. Er, those aren’t going to wake up, right?

The immediate comparison is to the indie classic darling Limbo - a 2D platformer with a big emphasis on lighting and shadow - but there’s also flavours ofValve’s beloved Portal franchise and The Talos Principle, with the sci-fi setting and warping of physics, and the fast pacing suggests a speedrunning element beyond all of them.

The two major powers we see the hero toying with in the new Future Games Show trailer are redirecting gravity and using some sort of teleport ability to swap himself with other objects - in the process avoiding lasers, molten metal, and a thousand other dangers. A simple drop through a chute becomes a twisting, omnidirectional form of flight, as gravity snaps back and forth to pull us in all sorts of directions. I hope the hero has a strong stomach - to say nothing of the moment where we see him leaping between missiles like he’s Rico Rodriguez.

If you’re looking for more excellent games from today’s Future Games Show, have a look atour official Steam page.

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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.

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