Publisher Microids has announced a new title in the Asterix & Obelix franchise. Asterix & Obelix: Slap Them All! will take a different direction to the recent XXL titles, this time being a 2D side-scrolling beat ’em up heading to the PlayStation 4 this fall.
The game is set in 50 B.C. when Gaul is almost entirely occupied by the Romans. There is just one village of Gauls left to repel the invasion and you can probably guess where Asterix and Obelix can be found. The duo will sail to different places familiar to fans of the comics as they take on Roman legionaries, pirates, brigands and the Normans in a traditional 2D beat ’em up with “no secrets”. The title will feature local co-op for two players so the duo can take on their enemies together.
Whereas the XXL titles had Osome Studio at the helm, Slap Them All! is in the capable hands of Mr Nutz Studio. The developer has been making games since 1988 beginning with Mr Nutz on the SEGA Genesis. They were also responsible for Toki on the Nintendo Switch. The team wants to be “as respectful to the original material as possible” and has gone with a similar art direction to that found in the comic books originally created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. The characters, scenery and animations will all be hand drawn. You can see if they’ve got it right in the game’s teaser trailer.
This isn’t the first time the franchise has headed into beat ’em up territory. When the genre was all the rage in the late 80’s and early 90’s, Asterix was introduced to arcades by Konami. However, this is the first Asterix beat ’em up to hit consoles, with earlier titles focusing on platforming or the action-adventure approach of the recent XXL games.
Asterix & Obelix: Slap Them All! will arrive on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC at some point this fall. The game will also be playable on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles through backwards compatibility.
