Outrise pits 15 players against one giant playable boss monster

Asymmetrical sci-fi action game Outrise is in its early days with nary a screenshot available, but its premise is pure gold: 15 players must band together to take down one giant boss monster who, in a stroke of genius, is also a player.

"We think of it as a multiplayer Shadow Of The Colossus meets Left 4 Dead and with [an] oldschool sci-fi look and feel," explained the developer on its official site where it described the action as being "like a colony of fire ants attacking its prey."

A majority of players will play as human soldiers with access to numerous firearms, explosives, drones, and both land and air-based vehicles. As the boss, you'll be able to "stomp enemies into pancakes, drop enemy-seeking mines, and unleash horrendous weaponry on your foes, the likes of which the world has never seen."

This may sound similar to Turtle Rock's four-against-one shooter Evolve, but Team Outrise isn't worried about this as the developer maintains that the games will be quite different in practice.

"There are similar game concepts people are comparing these projects to like Citizen Kabuto and Demon's Souls, but rather than stealing thunder I think both Titanfall and Evolve are opening doors with fresh experiences. Everyone is going to benefit from a much needed wave of shooter innovation," said creative lead James Wearing in an e-mail to Eurogamer.

As far as the actual gameplay goes, Outrise does sound unique and Wearing explained that the perspective will shift between first and third-person based on the situation. "Normal human view is first-person only but for climbing the boss we plan to have both third and first-person. It's awesome to climb up a machine that's trying to kill you while staying in first-person, however, there are huge benefits to the greater situational awareness of being in third-person."

"Boss POV is a bit different. There are multiple viewpoints tailored for each situation you encounter or weapon you equip. If there's a team of dudes climbing up your leg, you have a way to view and attempt to defend from that attack and shake them off. Precision stomping enemies on the ground would have a different view and targeting method. Both need to be super intuitive and feel good to control. We aren't trying to over complicate things control-wise."

Intriguingly, there will be different boss monsters tailored to each stage. "There are multiple types of bosses and each boss has its own unique weapons and special abilities. One boss might be able to nuke the entire map and kill all 15 at once, whereas another might have more precision and speed in mind," Wearing explained. "A boss and its environment are bundled together as a module. We're building the game with the intent of Early Access and putting the first playable module into players hands as soon as possible. From there we'll continue to develop and release new modules as we go, listening to feedback along the way."

Based on some early concept art, it looks like there could be stages where humans fight each other in addition to the boss, but the developer is still sorting out the different game modes and said it could end up testing such modes - or "modules" - with the community in an early build to see what sticks. "The game is designed to grow over time with the community," Wearing said.

While the actual development team is a new outfit, it's comprised of a bunch of industry veterans who worked on such titles as Hawken, Assassin's Creed 2 and the Call of Duty series. Team Outrise has currently been self-funding the project, but hasn't settled on a funding plan for the rest of development. "We just wanted to show people what we were working on from an early stage and hear their feedback," Wearing explained. "So far people seem to really dig it, which is validating for us and tells us we need to continue. If we manage to gain enough fans that want to see it made via Kickstarter that would be amazing and we'll do it. And if publishers or investors see the potential in our project we're open to partners as well."