King of Meat Preview - Gamescom 2024

Amazon has become one of the largest companies in the world, and so naturally it has been growing itself in a number of businesses over the past few decades. They have everything from AWS cloud, to a retail supermarket presence via Whole Foods, to huge movie and TV productions. With enough budget, it should be easy for a megacorp of this scale to branch out into new industries - but for one reason or another, they haven't been able to take a foothold within the video game market. They've bought existing studios, formed their own, and yet breakthrough success remains elusive - despite the MMO New World doing big numbers at launch, it’s since quieted down and is now being rebranded into non-MMO focus and console release. Their latest approach is to do a bit of publishing, so they are partnering with developers Glowmade for a 4-player cooperative multiplayer dungeon crawler game King of Meat. That's certainly becoming the trending design recently, and though this is yet another title that will push its live services, flaunt cosmetics, premium shop and a Battlepass-like system, and it's not the first (see our preview of Towerborne) or only such game we've played at Gamescom 2024, it was at least one of the better ones.

Players are thrown into a whimsical world where the #1 TV show in the land has heroes trying to clear dungeons filled with enemies and traps for glory and fame. The TV-show setup seems a bit strange and unnecessary, as the zaniness of the situation would certainly be enough on its own. Playing solo or with up to three others, players can first meet up in the shared social plaza space where you can customize your gameplay and visual layout, visit with different vendors, and so on. The visual customizations were expectedly varied and had currency costs associated; unlocking new items was laid out in the expected linear fashion. However there was no focus on stats or abilities - new gear only had a different look, rather than function, so this isn't trying to be an RPG.

Different weapons did change things - our demo had an option of a sword and shield, or a large hammer. Using different weapons changes up the available move sets and the combat feel, as expected. Everyone also gets a crossbow with ammo on cooldown for a ranged option. Players can also use Tonics to have special modifiers for their next few dungeon runs, such as reducing enemy health and increasing team resistances to damage.

Jumping into a dungeon, though, you may quickly realize that stats don't really matter. King of Meat is meant to be a casually enjoyed title, but it still played surprisingly competently. From a third person perspective, we guided our little hero across multiple rooms that contained spawning enemies such as skeletons and trolls, with ranged and melee attacks. You can hack and slash away at the enemies, watching their health bars deplete; you can jump and smash down, or chain a few attacks together for a combo. Players also have two special powerful attacks on a cooldown which usually deal massive area damage, such as spewing green gas, or having a horse leg kick down from above. Players can also pick up random objects such as explosive barrels or skulls and toss them at enemies. In another interesting choice, players do bump into each other, which can lead to funny moments as you knock each other off platforms, or get caught in friendly fire from exploding barrels. It's silly, but harmless and a bit fun.

Defeating enemies in quick succession raises your crowd engagement meter, which is a score multiplier. When not clearing rooms of enemies, you can explore the subsequent dungeons to find secret rooms, do some platforming across lava and spike pits, and dodge arrows in your path. Chests and other breakable objects, such as crates, contain gems when broken apart, which increases your score for the dungeon. Dying may decrease your scope - though you can be revived by others a few times. At the end of each run, the total team score is tallied and you are awarded up to a gold-tier performance trophy. Interestingly, the runs are counted as a total team score, so while the game has and shows individual player contributions, that doesn't seem to be the goal.

So while it's mildly fun to mess around and clear dungeons, perhaps the main differentiating aspect of King of Meat is the dungeons themselves. While we didn't get to see it in action, the game will ship with a dungeon editor tool, which will allow players to build and share their own levels with the community. There will be some dev-made levels available, but the hope is that user generated content will allow the content to thrive in this game targeted at replayability. Such approach is a gamble, of course, so only time will tell if the users will be able to sustain their own desire for fresh levels.

As already mentioned, the game has a colorful and whacky art style. This, in addition to being a four player multiplayer action game, puts it into competition with other well-established games. But with the backing of a huge company like Amazon, hopefully this bet works out. Interestingly enough, developer Glowmade also has a similar partnership to publish game RustHeart under the EA Originals label, though not much has been heard from this project since its reveal five years ago. King of Meat is also not particularly original in its mechanics, but at least it has a pleasing visual style and played well enough. In the apparently ever-overflowing genre of multiplayer action games, this one may have some potential. Look for it to launch on PC, Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and Switch in the future.