'I think about it a millennial shooter': The FPS dev making hit shooters by leaning into '2007-core'

FOV 90

Welcome to FOV 90, an FPS column from employees author Morgan Park. Each different week, I cowl subjects related to first-person shooter enjoyers, spanning all the things from multiplayer and singleplayer to the previous and the brand new.

Welcome to the primary FOV 90 of 2026. On this quiet interval for video games, I hope you have been returning to previous FPS favorites or lastly firing up ones you have been which means to strive. If it is not already in your radar, let me let you know why Echo Level Nova must be one among them.

Think about if the gun ballet of Doom Everlasting, the “2007-core” weapons of FEAR or Fashionable Warfare, and the high-velocity locomotion of Tribes had been distilled right into a grand open-world journey FPS. It is obtained trickshots, hoverboards, bullet time, triple jumps, grapple hooks, and Crackdown-style agility orbs—it’s pure, uncut FPS adrenaline, and better of all? It is obtained four-player co-op. Echo Level Nova was my favourite FPS of 2024, and it even earned a spot on PC Gamer’s Prime 100. There’s nothing fairly prefer it on Steam proper now, and I wished to know why.

Late final 12 months, I sat down with Greylock Studio founder Matt Larrabee to speak concerning the success of Echo Level Nova, his background as a former public school-teacher-turned-game dev, and the way his video games match into the rising indie FPS scene. You should utilize the navigation bar (left on desktop, up on cellular) to cruise round to particular subjects.

Interview edited for size.

Greylock origins

PC Gamer: Earlier than we discuss Echo Level Nova, I’ve gotta find out about your background in video games. Inform me about your self.

Matt Larrabee, Greylock Studio Founder: I was a public faculty trainer, and truly taught programming to center schoolers. And for those who’re educating programming to center schoolers, in fact you are gonna train them learn how to make video games. So I did that for 5 years, after which in some unspecified time in the future I made a decision I ought to attempt to make video games alone. Within the afternoons, I used to be tinkering with recreation engines. I began off modding Morrowind. That was my very first thing. After which from there, I went into messing with Unreal Engine, and I simply began sharing clips of what I used to be making on the web. And that really obtained the eye of publishers. That was Severed Metal, my earlier recreation.

Round 2020 I signed with a writer, after which I went into full-time recreation growth. I launched Severed Metal in 2021, and that was profitable sufficient that I may preserve doing it. I am a recreation developer now—it is simply what I do and I can maintain myself.

How does that really feel? To make that transition?

, life is humorous. Like the concept of the hedonic treadmill, you all the time get used to it. So I’ve to cease and be deliberately grateful that, like, holy shit, I am residing the dream. I am making video games. However often I am simply so absorbed within the work and I lose sight of it. However it’s superior.

Echo Point Nova

(Picture credit score: Greylock Studio)

So for Severed Metal, you had been simply posting clips of this cool bullet time recreation on Twitter and obtained DMs from publishers?

Yeah mainly. It could have been a DM, it could have been e mail, however by some means publishers began speaking to me saying “Are you able to ship us a demo of the sport?” It is humorous—I used to be rejected quite a bit as a result of the sport seemed cool in a 5 second gif, however that does not imply it is good. It was a jank fest [at the time]. So I obtained rejected quite a bit, however the publishers I interacted with had been type of good. Digerati, the writer who lastly signed me, they soft-rejected me. They gave suggestions and mentioned, “Why do not you give us one other demo for those who can combine this suggestions?” And I did, they usually mentioned OK.

Have you ever all the time been obsessive about FPSes? Did you experiment with different genres too?

Effectively, I really like FPS. My two genres are FPS and RPG. By RPG, I particularly imply Bethesda-style video games. I really like Morrowind. There truly is one thing I launched that nobody performed—it is referred to as Greylock. It is a prototype recreation primarily based on the open Morrowind engine, whole jank fest. It is just a bit silly, foolish factor. And I believe that is someplace on the web.

Like a bit of customized marketing campaign?

Yeah. I actually wished to make it right into a full recreation, however an open-world RPG is only a suicide mission for a first-time developer. So many devs do it as a result of the open-world RPG is such a romantic imaginative and prescient. However that didn’t pan out. So I went for one thing extra easy, Severed Metal.

Severed Metal & Echo Level Nova

I need to hear about your huge inspirations behind Severed Metal and Echo Level Nova. They’re each motion shooters. They contain bullet time and coming into a circulation state, proper? That actually stands out, as a result of motion shooters are a longtime factor, however they’re not likely the indie scene’s favourite FPS to make. We see extra “boomer shooters” or throwback FPSes, proper? Why are you curious about this different lane?

Yeah, it is humorous. Folks do name my recreation a boomer shooter typically. I think about it extra like a millennial shooter. Extra according to Max Payne and FEAR—stuff like that. I preferred Doom as a child, however these had been the video games that had been popping out once I was in highschool and obtained me amped up. Anytime there was a shooter with bullet time, I used to be in. If I had been a bit older [Larrabee is 36], I might be making extra boomer shooter video games.

And the place did you begin with Echo Level Nova? Clearly it shares qualities with Severed Metal, however the open world and mobility had been a significant step up.

After Severed Metal launched, I made one other shot at my open world RPG. I began engaged on the know-how for that, so I used to be capable of generate a voxel panorama and I had characters working round in it. And I used to be taking a look at my to-do record and thought, “God, it is one other large venture.” Truthfully, I did not know if I had the abilities for it, as a result of it is simply so daunting.

So then I mentioned, OK, perhaps I ought to make one other shooter, however it’ll be open world so I am nonetheless constructing the abilities to make my dream RPG. I took all of the work I did on the open world after which put weapons into it. In the beginning, it was going to be extra tactical—there was going to be sprinting, crouching, stuff like that. I used to be actually impressed by Steel Gear Stable 5’s open world.

echo point — (Picture credit score: Greylock Studio)

However I wasn’t having numerous enjoyable with the fight. I bear in mind someday I used to be within the bathe enthusiastic about the sport, saying, “This is not enjoyable. How do I make it enjoyable?” Then I spotted, effectively, Severed Metal is enjoyable, so perhaps make it extra like Severed Metal. So I made the character quicker, then the slide mechanic advanced into the hoverboard, which is mainly an infinite slide. And the co-op got here alongside as a result of once more, silly me, I wished to make my open-world RPG co-op, which is so dumb. If I do my dream recreation sometime, it is not going to be co-op, however I had the beginnings of co-op networking there, so I simply stored it. And thus, Echo Level Nova was born.

And when did Echo Level Nova’s map change into an enormous sky archipelago?

At first, the map was one linked continent just like the Underneath The Clouds growth pack, however I used to be having hassle making transferring between these areas fascinating. Then I watched trailers for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom displaying off these sky islands, and I believed that may make all this empty area fascinating, as a result of the areas between islands change into leaping puzzles as an alternative of simply “maintain Shift to slip.”

Echo Level Nova’s reception

Echo Level Nova permits you to go quick—like actually quick. It’s essential sustain fixed velocity and be taught to purpose whereas transferring, or die. It feels unattainable at first, however you get used to it, or no less than I did. Did you ever fear that folks would not jive with the velocity or keep it up lengthy sufficient to be taught why it is enjoyable?

I like my bizarre issues, so perhaps I simply make bizarre video games {that a} small quantity of individuals play and love and it is sufficient for me to reside.

What impressed EPN’s velocity was execs enjoying Titanfall 2. They’d this motion tech which lets them simply soar throughout the map, and I used to be considering effectively, why ought to that be an exploit that takes talent and coaching? Why cannot you simply be transferring like that throughout the first ten minutes of the sport? The one intimidating factor about it was making the know-how work in order that arenas may stream in extraordinarily fast. You possibly can’t have the entire world loaded without delay. It’s a must to load in chunks because the participant strikes, and it was fairly a headache getting that down.

So far as discovering the fitting viewers, I suppose the Steam algorithm helps quite a bit. For instance, Echo Level Nova has 96% constructive critiques proper now [with an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating], however for those who took 100 random players and gave them Echo Level Nova, I do not assume 96% of them would really like it. Not even near that. So I simply have religion that the algorithm and the trailer will filter the gamers. You watch the trailer and you recognize if you are going to prefer it or not. So it wasn’t a giant fear. I simply had religion that, for those who construct it, they are going to come.

They usually did come, proper? It looks as if it is performed fairly darn effectively.

Trepang 2 [an FPS more directly inspired by FEAR] offered extra. Ultrakill offered extra, however you possibly can’t evaluate your self to Ultrakill. It is strong.

That is type of what I am getting at. Ultrakill has cool motion and weapons, however it nonetheless feels prefer it’s from a lineage of boomer shooters, which I do not say pejoratively. It is completely different vibes: It is arenas, it is advanced from Quake. And I do not actually know what Echo Level Nova is advanced from as a result of it looks like its personal factor.

Yeah, it is vitally completely different vibes. You are preventing human enemies, so it retains that Name of Responsibility and FEAR lineage.

And the weapons, too. They’re very Fashionable Warfare and Concern of their form, time interval, attachments, and aim-down-sights really feel. It is very 2007-core.

Haha yeah, 2007-core. That is a great way to place it. Even once I performed Unreal Event as a child, I’d use mods so as to add in M4s and AK-47s. I’ve all the time been extra interested in sensible weapons than power weapons and stuff.

You talked about earlier than that you just performed playtests by inviting mates and neighbors to return play Echo Level Nova in your kitchen. Did any of that suggestions ever say, “Perhaps you need to rethink letting folks go 100 miles per hour always?”

Folks do say that on-line, however none of my in-person playtesters mentioned that. Folks say Severed Metal is just too quick, too. It is humorous as a result of I added an choice to decrease the sport velocity in Severed Metal, however not in EPN. Again then a part of me was type of frightened the velocity can be an excessive amount of. But additionally, you possibly can play Echo Level Nova with limitless bullet time. I used to be comfortable so as to add that as an possibility.

My video games are exhausting, however I am not somebody who thinks you must earn your means into my recreation. So I suppose I used to be frightened that it is likely to be too quick, however as an alternative of adjusting EPN’s identification, I added choices for individuals who really feel that means.

Do you will have every other ideas on how Echo Level Nova has been obtained, or the place it sits within the FPS area?

I am not tremendous engaged with the triple-A brand new recreation factor. Once I consider shooters lately, I simply consider indie video games.

I do take into consideration how, for each video games, numerous critiques say that “this recreation is slept on” or “why is nobody speaking about this?” or “it is such a hidden gem.” And that makes me surprise: Is there one thing I must be doing to get it out to extra folks? Ought to I be advertising? Ought to I be like Conflict Of Clans, paying podcasters to speak about Echo Level Nova? I do not know. My final writer tried that for Severed Metal, and it was by no means apparent to me that it paid off. I do not know, [FPS YouTuber] JackFrags lined Echo Level Nova. What extra can I do?

A part of me thinks they’re simply area of interest video games. Like, I am a distinct segment video games man! My favourite Elder Scrolls is Morrowind, the jankiest of all of them. I desire the unique Deus Ex over the newer ones. I like my bizarre issues, so perhaps I simply make bizarre video games {that a} small quantity of individuals play and love and it is sufficient for me to reside. And perhaps that is advantageous. It might be cooler if extra folks performed it, however perhaps that is the restrict. That is cool with me.

Selaco is unbelievable. I do not know for those who performed that, however that is one value keeping track of. I am not tremendous engaged with the triple-A brand new recreation factor. Once I consider shooters lately, I simply consider indie video games.

Yeah, I believe that is more and more the case for those who’re not a multiplayer individual.

I am type of into multiplayer. I am desirous about Battlefield 6, folks had been saying that is good.

What about co-op? You talked about co-op solely occurred in Echo Level due to your RPG venture. Did you ever remorse committing to such a giant function for an open world recreation with terrain deformation?

God, continuously. Remorse was the first emotion. It is very troublesome. Including any function was like 50% tougher. It provides a lot complexity. I suppose I am comfortable I did it as a result of I am not gonna do it once more. I simply want I had a method to measure how many individuals play co-op versus singleplayer. My assumption is singleplayer dominates. I think it is 80% singleplayer.

Echo Point Nova

(Picture credit score: Greylock Studio)

I performed by the entire recreation with one good friend. It was the right recreation to only calm down and shoot the shit whereas having fun with this meditative trance of bullets. We talked about something however the sport as a result of we had been simply having a good time hoverboarding from combat to combat.

That is nice. Alright, that makes me really feel higher about it. That is why I added it. I performed by Abiotic Issue not too long ago and I do not assume I’d have performed that recreation if it did not have co-op.

So what’s subsequent for Greylock? Do you will have ambitions to develop the studio?

I believe I might prefer to proceed at this very small dimension [of 5-6 people]. It is labored thus far. I imply, I do need to take one other shot on the open-world RPG, and for that I will most likely want extra degree designers and a foliage artist, stuff like that. However I do not assume the staff goes to get a lot greater—I’ve no real interest in renting an workplace area and having 20-30 staff. But when I am attempting for the dream recreation, I will undoubtedly want a bigger assist employees.

I hope you possibly can pull it off, it sounds fairly formidable.

Yeah, thanks. Each dev tries this venture. It is a ceremony of passage.

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