Growing up in the suburbs outside of Toronto, I quickly learned how serious a matter like an overgrown lawn or late night tunes can become. There’s nothing more terrifying than the shadow of an active homeowners association. An upcoming multiplayer game takes that threat a step further, pitting two crews of suburbanites against each other and adding a heavy dose of Looney Tunes-style cartoon violence. Neighbors: Suburban Warfare is like Rainbow Six Siege, but with the tacticool military edges filed off.
I sat down with developer Invisible Walls for a couple of rounds of, well, suburban warfare. Each team has a house to defend, with a television, toilet, bed, and oven. In order to win, you must destroy the other team’s objectives while defending your own. Of course, this is easier said than done. Your team can barricade windows, set up traps, or simply pummel enemies into unconsciousness to defend their turf.
Neighbors is a class-based shooter, with a variety of colorful characters to choose from. I chose Doreen, a feisty grandma with a squat build and a pair of boxing gloves. There are also characters like Chad, a lovable himbo who dresses in a maid outfit, and the stealthy wallflower and local knitting enthusiast Mary-Jean. I found myself stymied on these characters by Kevin, a Dennis the Menace-like child with a slingshot, and P.A., a retired daredevil who kept all his old gear.
Most characters seem easy to pick up, but it’s clear there’s a high skill ceiling for some of them. The designs are also super memorable — I’ve seen a million mercenaries, but I’ve never played as the overzealous neighborhood fiend with a love of fireworks, or a dude in a maid dress smacking foes with a vacuum cleaner. While I only played a couple of rounds, I’m interested to see how these characters interact, and what meta players end up forming around their strategies.
Those strategies can also change depending on which map you’re playing on. One round was in a small-town suburb in a roundabout, where one of the biggest threats was an out of control delivery van that would occasionally veer around and toss out packages. Another was a much larger, snowy upper-class neighborhood, which allowed for many more opportunities of attack.
Each match of Neighbors has an ebb and flow. During the day, players are charging into their opponent’s house, raiding nearby construction sites for supplies, and trying to tear down fences or unlock gates. At night, the guard dog in each home wakes up, and woe betide anyone who tries to sneak into a home with that little monster active.
Neighbors: Suburban Warfare is set for an early access launch, and there’s no release date yet, but players can sign up to potentially playtest the game on its Steam store page. I’ve played my fair share of team shooters, but the colorful and charming designs of Neighbors, combined with the surprisingly deep competitive potential, means I’ll be keeping an eye on this one in particular.
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