SummaryWe go hands-on at XBOX Video games Showcase 2026 with the darkly humored Be part of Us, an upcoming open world sandbox recreation that has you creating and managing your very personal cult.Fight was the central focus of our demo, sampling quite a lot of weapons you should utilize within the recreation, starting from pistols to machine weapons and serrated machetes.Be part of Us launches March 2027 for XBOX Collection X|S, XBOX on PC, cloud and included with Sport Move. Play it on each console and PC at no further price with XBOX Play Wherever.
Be part of Us wastes little time in letting me know the way foolish issues are about to get. Shortly after navigating its cultist creator and adorning my robes in a brightly coloured yellow, white, and inexperienced checkerboard sample, choosing a flying saucer as my cult’s icon, and insisting everybody refer to one another as a quantity, is once I set my expectations for hilarity – and was not disenchanted.
Be part of Us has all of the markings of an formidable indie that, on the floor, describes itself as sandbox survival recreation, nevertheless it feels a lot deeper than that. The ten-person staff at Wolf Haus Video games has seemingly saved throwing concepts on the wall and as an alternative of rejecting them, discovered methods to make them work. Need to journey a deer? Positive. What if we had aliens? Sure. Need to drive a forklift? After all you do. And that’s an enormous half Be part of Us’ appeal, is supplying you with a variety of strategies to each get pleasure from your time within the recreation’s world and methods to your celebration of cultists to infiltrate the native populace.
Exiting the cultist creator display, I quickly discovered myself in a big outside compound with dozens of fellow cultists adorned in my colours, all in a synchronized dance, guiding me to a makeshift impediment course to get a really feel for the controls and a take a look at of my indoctrination – taking pictures a pig (or not) on the behest of our nice Chief. I’m then despatched to the Home of Enterprise (a barn) to obtain my orders: journey to the close by county of Bedford and unfold the nice phrase of our little cult. And by spreading the nice phrase, we imply violently.
Bedford is extremely rural, surrounded by wilderness, army bases, an deserted circus, and rusted automobiles. That is additionally dwelling to the beginning of our personal little compound, situated simply exterior of city, that includes quite a lot of followers already on-site, pounding drums, caring for chickens, and harvesting tomatoes. It isn’t lengthy till the locals arrive to take offense to our presence by speeding in weapons blazing.
Fight was one of many central focuses of my hands-on time with Be part of Us, giving us a pattern of the number of weapons you should utilize within the recreation, starting from pistols to machine weapons and serrated machetes. Biking by weapons was a breeze and fight felt fairly good for the present state of the demo construct — it has good bones and can little question see some additional refinement main as much as its full launch subsequent yr.
After we took care of the invaders in a particularly bloody battle, I then conscripted different cultists in our compound to pile right into a white van and drive over to the close by farm to take out the remainder of these ruffians whereas “Cielito Lindo” was taking part in on the radio – there are a half-dozen radio stations to cycle between whereas driving automobiles, due to course there are (the wall, bear in mind?).
As soon as we arrived on the enemy farm, I looted a close-by weapon cache that uncovered a grenade launcher, flame thrower, and chainsaw – that’s when the chaos actually began to unfold as we started to place these enemies out to a bloody pasture. It wasn’t lengthy till the flurry of explosions and hail of bullets attracted the eye of the native police who arrived on the scene and instantly opened fireplace on us – even a police helicopter arrived – and actually laid into my character till he was toast. That was the tip of Quantity 14. My cult was gone, or so I assumed…
You already know all these cultists again on the compound? In case your playable character is killed off, you’ll swap over to any surviving follower to proceed your recreation. You’ll be able to even swap into the physique of any close by cult member at any time, even throughout fight, with the long-distance swaps functioning like a cult-powered type of quick journey.
Be part of Us additionally options permadeath, which means the poor sap I used to be taking part in who received caught up within the hail of bullets again on the farm, is gone endlessly from the sport. Now in a newfound physique with a want to unfold our cult’s affect even additional, I hit the street and discover extra of the huge surrounding space.
One such cease included a small neighborhood the place I walked as much as and transformed extra of the native populace – this not solely will increase my cult’s following however offers me some further respawn choices ought to I fall sufferer to a different spherical of bullets. Pulling this off required affect that may be obtained by placing flyers up throughout city, handing out personalised autographs from our Chief, or simply threatening them to demise.
Quickly I had a half-dozen new followers adorned in an identical wardrobe, who hilariously ran over to the closest car, hijacked it, and drove to the compound – which left me and not using a set of wheels, leaving me to stroll all the best way again to the compound. Sadly, I handed by a police station on the best way again dwelling and thus was a swift finish to Quantity 53.
There’s rather more to Be part of Us than dispatching a little bit of ultra-violence and exploration. Their official channels point out base constructing, farming, indoctrination of members, domesticating animals, and aliens. It’s in all places – however that’s a part of its appeal. Wolf Haus needs to present you one of many wildest and weirdest sandboxes so that you can play in and it looks like they’re nicely on their manner in doing so. Think about myself indoctrinated.
Search for Be part of Us to launch in 2027 for XBOX Collection X|S, XBOX on PC, cloud and included with Sport Move. Play it on each console and PC at no further price with XBOX Play Wherever.
