Again in 2023, Nidhogg developer Messhof unveiled its new recreation, a trendy racing recreation known as Ghost Bike that units gamers off on a quest to revive the the final of the Ghost Bikes, “magical couriers who rode between the world of the dwelling and the world of the lifeless.” Ghost Bike was re-revealed throughout at the moment’s Xbox showcase with a brand new title—Wheel World—and, sorry to say, a brand new, extra distant launch date: As an alternative of popping out this yr as deliberate, it is now set for launch in early 2025.
The brand new title displays a shift within the recreation’s narrative, which has modified to accommodate “a variety of iterations by way of gameplay and construction” for the reason that recreation was first introduced.
“On the level final yr when it felt proper to announce the undertaking, we got here up with the title Ghost Bike based mostly on the place the narrative was,” Messhol’s Mak Essen and Kristy Norindr defined on Steam. “It was a recreation about dying on a motorcycle after being hit by a automobile and ending up in a biking Valhalla.
“Whereas it wasn’t straight based mostly on actual world ghost bikes (these white bikes memorializing cyclists killed by drivers), there was sufficient overlap to really feel just like the title was justified and the associations could be a optimistic one from each instructions. However as issues modified within the gameplay (to make it extra enjoyable to play), and thus the story (particularly in tone) it match much less and fewer.”
Wheel World because it stands now’s “in regards to the pleasure and freedom of dwelling round bikes,” they stated. “Whether or not simply to get round, exploring a brand new route by a well-recognized place, or simply tinkering with them and discovering your individual completely satisfied medium between kind and performance.”
Your mileage might fluctuate on this entrance however frankly, that sounds rather a lot much less attention-grabbing to me. Racing video games are tremendous however come on, “biking Valhalla” is a hook. However there’s clearly nonetheless some bizarre stuff occurring in Wheel World, and a heavy supernatural accountability stays: You will race, you may discover, you may customise your bike “with an limitless array of components,” and, oh sure, you may fulfill your future by performing The Nice Shift ritual to avoid wasting the world. So that is positively not nearly pumping pedals.
Messhof is well-known for the excellent Nidhogg video games, each of which we beloved, but it surely’s additionally noteworthy that Wheel World is being revealed by Annapurna Interactive, which famously imploded in September. Annapurna subsequently indicated that it was “centered on shifting ahead” with its Interactive division, and was nonetheless accepting pitches from builders because it employed alternative employees. Clearly the state of affairs has stabilized a minimum of sufficient to allow Annapurna Interactive to proceed engaged on current offers.
