GLUM is a First-Person Booter That I Can't Wait To Play on the Steam Deck - Hands-Off Preview

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There have been a lot of great games I have had the pleasure of seeing and playing since I started SteamDeckHQ. Some are quite generic, while others have been quite unique in their own right. However, I haven't quite found a game that feels wholly unique that I could never have seen coming. After yesterday, I can't really say that anymore, because GLUM is something else. I was lucky enough to be part of a presentation showing off the upcoming first-person "booter", and I truly feel it will be something to remember.

We've seen first-person games before and some really odd ones here and there, but nothing like GLUM. You play as this foul-mouthed, lazy, sadistic janitor who survives a coup from a rival overlord, and you take up a magical boot and wreak havoc. It takes place in a beautiful cartoony fantasy world in a multitude of different locations, and while we have seen that before, the uniqueness comes from how the mechanics work together.

Developer CinderCat Games took a lot of inspiration from the kicking mechanic in Dark Messiah of Might and Magic and decided to make that into its own games. You kick enemies around, their bodies flying all over the place, and you only have your boot to take them down. The world itself is interactable, though, so you can kick people into spikes, porta-potties, Iron Maidens, and each other. You can even juggle enemies by kicking them into a wall, with their bodies coming back to you.

But that's not all! You will also have magical powers to interact with your victims and the world further. The two powers I was shown during the presentation were being able to turn your boot into a gun and shoot it from further away, and a way to drag enemies or objects around across distances. Utilizing these, combined with the elasticity of the world, leads to some insane combos that can help rack up your score. It's fast-paced joy that looks like DOOM, but with more creativity.

The humor is also all over the place and in your face. I mentioned that we can kick enemies into a porta-potty, but there's much more in GLUM. It reeks of in-your-face humor from the crass nature of our protagonist to the enemies that we are facing. We can even face off against a giant Farm Draper. It feels like almost every inch of the world has something hilarious going on with it, and I love this type of humor, so I felt right at home.

CinderCat Games has come a long way with GLUM, hitting highs early on, then getting hit hard with the mass layoffs that started in 2023. They were able to recover with a big investment, and because of that, it looks like we will be able to all enjoy the game for ourselves. I am thankful too, since it looks like a hilarious experience that will be a blast to play.

They also have a solid update schedule with two major content updates planned for early access already. I like that they are focusing on themed updates for these, and they will definitely be worth the wait, especially the one for Halloween.

And for us Steam Deck users, I am happy to say that things are looking positive! CinderCat Games confirmed that they will be optimizing the game for the Deck and shooting for the Verified badge. They want to be doing it throughout the early access period of the game, but their goal is to get the badge before they release into 1.0. With how dedicated the team is, I would be surprised if they don't hit this goal.

GLUM will be launching into early access on May 22nd, and they plan to keep it there for one year. Of course, things can change, and it may take longer, but that is their initial estimate. You can wishlist the game on Steam now!

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