This bodycam mech shooter has a slick rainy day look and Zelda-like vehicle construction

Like tears (of the Kingdom) in the rain

Got some nice rain for you today. Second-Loop is an upcoming sci-fi shooter featuring mechs, physics puzzles, and at least one freaky umbilical-corded being struggling against the confines of a horrific laboratory womb. Video games! All of that sounds interesting. But it's the moody reflections on the rain-slick surfaces and the game's bodycam-style presentation that's really got me going "oooooo". Don't you want to say "oooooo" too? C'mere and see.

Rad. There's no release date alongside this taster but we do get some glimpses of the singleplayer game's intent from its Steam page. The physics puzzle-solving is front and centre, suggesting some Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom style improvisation, using the junk of a shattered world to get past obstacles or invent useful machines. "From eccentric sports cars with tank treads to aircraft," says the blurb, "if you can dream it, build it..." In accompanying GIFs we see four office fans being strapped to a cargo box, creating a tiny hovercraft that launches itself uncontrollably into the ceiling. Big dreams.

It looks like you'll also be piloting the mechs themselves. "Brawl with enemy mechs using searing laser attacks and bone-crunching grapple throws," say developers Kakaru. Though there's no sign of exactly what that combat might look like in the trailer or on the Steam page, short of some admittedly sick-looking cockpit shots in GIF form. Story-wise, you'll be cracking metal skulls as "a symbol of resistance against the oppressive forces that seek to control the world."

Body-cam chic via Unreal Engine lighting is really taking off recently. The sense of weight and movement this perspective brings is doing some favours for the horror genre, for example. But Second-Loop is not going the horror route, even if its overcast skies and ruined brick buildings give off an unsettling atmosphere. "Semi-body-cam," bark the developers. "But no cops or ghosts." I enjoy that they feel the need to make this crystal clear right on the Steam listing. NO COPS OR GHOSTS. I have always desired such transparency from devs. Thank you.

It does look the part but, as ever, let's wait and see. The greebly, loose-wires aesthetic reminds me of the long-lost mech multiplayer of Hawken, the original trailer for which showed a similar taste in sci-fi city design and exposed engine parts. Hawken was revived as a singleplayer game but Alice O (RPS in peace) was not impressed. Anyway, I'll shut up about mechs now. Thanks to 80.lv for bringing the rainy day roboticism to our attention.