Rebellion has just announced a new supernatural co-op romp that wouldn’t look out of place in the pages of 2000 AD, which it also publishes. Strange Brigade pits four adventurers against monsters and gods from ancient civilisations across the British Empire. You’ve got to feel some sympathy. All the Brits want to do is take over and exploit the world, and now Egyptian witches and undead beasties are getting in their way.
Colonial fiction is rife with stories of white heroes—often accompanied by a native chum or two—storming into foreign lands, introducing them to “civilisation” with bullets. It’s not very pleasant! Strange Brigade seems to hit a lot of the same notes, with the Empire heroes fighting against the "other". It's all very Orient versus Occident.
Maybe it’s my British guilt speaking, and certainly the tongue-in-cheek trailer suggests satire, but at the very least, Rebellion is skirting a line. That said, it’s got zeppelins, magic, hordes of monsters and and it’s an excuse to gather a bunch of pals and fill shambling corpses and towering deities with hot lead, which does sound like a hoot.
No release date yet, but Rebellion says that it’s “coming soon”.
