As much as I love Hotline Miami and its sequel HLM 2: Wrong Number's cool video nasty style, I've always wondered what a game in a similar vein but where the protagonist has superpowers might be like. Team Shifty and tinyBuild's Mr Shifty goes a long way in answering my query as a lightning-paced top-down action brawler whereby the protagonist can teleport around his surroundings.
Filling the fast-firing shoes of Mr Shifty, players are tasked with steering the titular hero around "the world's most secure facility" whose natives ain't happy with his presence. The hero's ability to teleport, however, lets him dodge bullets and cover long distances as he performs takedowns with whichever inanimate object is at hand. Look out for the neat metal trident slam in the following trailer:
As you'll see there, Shifty's powers also come in handy while dodging the lethal laser security systems this facility boasts—the sum of which comprises 18 stages and over 140 levels. You'll also notice a couple of powerbars at the foot of the UI which I imagine govern your abilities as, like Hotline Miami, Mr Shifty operates a one-hit kill system.
Fancy that? Mr Shifty's open beta is live ahead of its launch next week.
"The open beta is still live and serves as a demo of what to expect," reads this Steam community post. "The game's been polished up really nicely since then, but if you still want to get an idea of how Mr. Shifty plays, go ahead and download the beta here."
Mr Shifty is due one week from today on Thursday, April 13.