Pid Preview

It wasn’t long ago that I was lamenting the dearth of platformers. It was a grim time, with one of my favorite genres struggling to maintain relevancy in the face of the dominant FPS. But digital platforms and smartphones have been a boon for the genre, providing us with platformers of all colors. The upcoming Pid for PC is one of the latest in this renaissance, and it’s bringing a whole load of charm with it.

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Hovering: The solution to every platformer protagonist’s problems

It wasn’t long ago that I was lamenting the dearth of platformers. It was a grim time, with one of my favorite genres struggling to maintain relevancy in the face of the dominant FPS. But digital platforms and smartphones have been a boon for the genre, providing us with platformers of all colors. The upcoming Pid for PC is one of the latest in this renaissance, and it’s bringing a whole load of charm with it.

A young boy finds himself lost on a planet not his own, and he wants nothing more than to find a way off. His journey leads him through a variety of places, ranging from castles to space stations. On the less charming side of things, the world is also home to robots hellbent on stopping you. While that may sound like a scenario that leads to a fairly traditional platformer, Pid is shaping up to be anything but.

Players are in power of a powerful force that enables them to do things like hover, move enemies, dodge bullets, and alter the level itself. For example, if the path is blocked by a set of spikes (every platformer protagonist’s greatest enemy), you can strategically place fields that gift you the ability to float. If only Sonic had access to this ability.

Pid
Pid

If this sounds like a journey you’d rather not set out on alone, friendly coop is also an option. Unlike many gameplay modes boasting the word “coop,” cooperation will be a required to progress. To put it another way, make sure the person you’re playing with isn’t a jerk who will try and mess with you the entire time. And to put it even another way, make sure you aren’t playing with me.

Pid will be available for download later this year, and I expect any and all fans of 2D platformers to brace themselves accordingly. The obvious way to do this is to pretend the world we live in is 2D, and to walk in a straight line at all times. Good luck with that!