When Killer Instinct was first revealed at E3 last month, the only two characters on display were series staples Jago and Sabrewulf – but at EVO 2013 this weekend, developer Double Helix pulled back the curtains on Glacius, another fan favorite from the classic fighting game franchise.
Over the weekend, EVO 2013 attendes have been able to get their hands on the latest build of the game, which includes Glacius as a playable character. As various videos that have surfaced from the tournament and the official trailer have shown, Glacius has seen a bit of an overhaul.
One of the first thing fans of the series will notice is that the character looks slightly different – he’s still looks like he’s made of ice but his appearance is more jagged. In a video with IGN, which we’ll show below, Double Helix’s David Verfaillie explained that the team aimed to make Glacius look a whole lot more like an alien this time around.
Glacius’ stage even shows a crashed alien spaceship in the background.
As far as gameplay goes, the properties of his moves appear to have changed as well; Glacius appears to be more of a “zoning” character than before, meaning that he has plenty of tools to keep his opponent locked down at a distance – and tools that allow Glacius to bring his opponent to him. Several of his moves will be familiar to series veterans, but the character appears to have seen the most changes of the three we’ve seen so far.
This is, of course, subject to change as development continues on.
While many of his tools are designed to keep opponents away from you, he’s also very capable of rushing his opponent down, delivering an onslaught of attacks from close range to deliver some truly impressive-looking combos. For a demonstration of how he plays, you can check that out in another video courtesy of IGN , which you can see below.
More characters are expected to be revealed at a steady pace throughout the year, so stay tuned to see what other characters are in store for Killer Instinct .
Killer Instinct is expected to release late this year exclusively for the Xbox One. Although it will be available for free, only one character, Jago, will be playable; to buy the rest of the cast you’ll have to throw down money for each, or buy a “full” copy which includes all content.
No pricing details have been revealed.
