The EMPULSE gameplay reveal just landed at the PC Gaming Show, with an extra reveal (or two)!
EMPULSE is launching in Early Access on June 24th across Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. EMPULSE Early Access will be priced at $19.99 on June 24th (with an additional launch week-discount), but will be playable for FREE beginning June 15th during Steam Next Fest. We are excited for you to get your hands on EMPULSE and give feedback!
Check out the gameplay trailer below:
With gameplay finally revealed, we’re diving deeper on gameplay mechanics, modes, mechs, and our Early Access goals.
We have seen your comments. We have read your DMs. Wall-running is something that a lot of movement shooter players really, really want. And we agree. When it's done well, it unlocks a whole layer of expression that most shooters never touch. The difficult part is creating a game that allows for wall-running to shine. Too often it's added as an additive mechanic, not a real part of the toolkit.
We knew from the start that wall-running couldn't be a feature, it had to be the foundation. Players can wall-run forwards and backwards, chain almost any other mechanic into a wall-run, and run on virtually every vertical surface on the map… and sometimes below the map.
The goal of every movement system in EMPULSE is: Chain movement to reach a flowstate.
Wall-run into a grapple hook into a Holojump into Speed P.A.I.N.T into ACTION. Every input flows to the next. When you hit it right, you don't think about any individual movement, but you know it feels great.
When developing EMPULSE, we wanted players to be able to chain movement and enter a flowstate. We needed something that players could do in-between wall-running, sliding, jetpacking, and launching off Holojumps. A grapple was the obvious answer, but we knew we had to make a grapple hook that does more than just “get players from point a to point b.” So we designed a grapple hook that is not just for closing gaps; it allows you to swing from pillars, build additional momentum, and even pulls you toward whatever you hook.
Hook a wall to whip straight into a wall-run, building speed faster than you could on foot.
Grapple around a corner to swing into a fight from an angle no one's watching to catch enemies by surprise.
Hook an enemy and it reels you in… allowing you to finish with an automatic one-hit melee.
Hook a teammate or a mech and you tether on, riding their momentum across the m
If movement is what makes EMPULSE feel like EMPULSE, P.A.I.N.T. Bombs are the part you won't find in any other shooter. Throwing a Plasma Activated Infusion of Nano-Tech (P.A.I.N.T.) Bomb onto any surface will alter that surface and make it behave differently. They take the place of the grenades and tacticals you're used to, and turn the map itself into your equipment. Here are the types of P.A.I.N.T. Bombs that will be in-game at the start of Early Access.
Jump P.A.I.N.T.: anything that touches this P.A.I.N.T. gets a jump boost, opening routes that weren't there before. Tag a wall with it to kick off at incredible speed.
Speed P.A.I.N.T.: turns a surface into a speed boost for you or a teammate. Slide into it to carry even more momentum out the other side.
Explosive P.A.I.N.T.: will burst on impact, and then again with a delayed, stronger blast. Great for holding angles or breaking flanks.
Heal P.A.I.N.T.: lay it on the ground and top your Crew back up mid-fight.
Sticky P.A.I.N.T.: slows whatever crosses it, locking down a lane or killing a chase. It's also brutally effective against mechs, especially in one of our upcoming mech modes. More on that later.
In early playtests, players found new ways to use P.A.I.N.T. that we never expected, and even pitched ideas for entirely new P.A.I.N.T., which we're already prototyping. We can’t wait for a much larger audience to contribute to the active development of EMPULSE and pushing us to discover new creative ways to play.
In our last post we said mechs are the most contested objective in a match: a power spike that spawns mid-round and forces your Crew to fight for control. We promised we'd get specific. Here's what you're actually fighting over
A mech isn't something every player calls in. Two of them spawn at the center of the map at a time, and whoever claims one is piloting a machine built to take over a round. They come equipped with:
Chaingun that ramps up the longer you hold the trigger
Rockets that delete anyone caught close
Melee that hits enemies for heavy damage and knocks them back
Deployable bubble shield to lock down a position or cover a push
Charge jump that launches the mech high into the sky, then slams down with a shockwave, crushing anyone caught underneath when it lands
Dash to reposition with surprising speed for something that massive
And it has a health pool that dwarfs any player on foot.
Here's the part we're most excited for you to feel: a mech is dominant, but it is not invincible. A careless pilot gets outplayed, and a Crew that rallies together to bring one down can swing the momentum of a match in seconds, then turn that kill into the push that ends it. And pilots, beware the hammer: a player can grapple straight to you to close the gap and land a melee hit that temporarily disables your bubble shield, cracking you open for the rest of their Crew. That "tug of war” feeling over who owns the center is the heartbeat of EMPULSE.
Mechs are something we're particularly excited to get the community's feedback on, and to see how you help shape the direction they take.
We are shipping EMPULSE in Early Access because the best version of this game is the one we build with you. June 24 is the start of a community-led journey, and a paid entry point is what lets us focus on shipping the content our players want, instead of having to optimize for monetization from day one.
For that to actually work, we have to be able to ship fast. We have to be able to act on what you're telling us instead of worrying about how to fill a 100-level battle pass for a season two months out.
So we're making a clear choice about monetization. On June 24, there will be no store, no battle pass, no paid cosmetics, no microtransactions, no additional paid content, period. Every cosmetic is earned in-game through in-game mechanics (challenges, progression, Gigs, etc), with a small set of non-paid exceptions like Twitch Drops and wishlist incentives. Earn your content, don't pay for it. This means our roadmap isn't tied to whatever the store needs to push that quarter. We’ll ship features when they're ready and prioritize the ones you're asking for.
In Early Access you can expect new modes, new maps, new weapons, additional mechs, alternate playstyles, and ideas we haven’t even heard from you yet! "What does EMPULSE become?" isn't ours to answer alone. We share that question with you.
We'll go deeper on modes, maps, progression, ranked, and cosmetics soon, and we're eager to share more of our thinking as it takes shape.
EMPULSE launches in Early Access on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Steam, on June 24th, but Steam players will have the opportunity to play a free demo during Steam Next Fest beginning June 15th. Make sure to follow us, wishlist EMPULSE and sign up at playempulse.com to hear news about EMPULSE first.
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