Some games are difficult to explain. The reasons may be varied; it could be due to deep narrative or innovative game mechanics or the game’s inability to be compared to anything current. At PAX South this year, I ran into Omnibus, and it definitely falls into that third category. Before even going hands-on, I saw a bus crash through buildings, be asked to decapitate a statue, hurdle through space and plants crops. Now thinking on it, maybe I should have written Omnibus ran into me.
Zany, wacky and full of whimsy, Omnibus, developed by Buddy Cop games, asks the question what would happen if a bus had the characteristics of a human and went out to aid the world. Buddy Cop is made up of two guys who met in an ethics class in college. They decided to try something different. Oh boy is it different.
There are two modes in Omnibus – a single player and a multiplayer. The multiplayer is a 4-player competitive match where you attempt to knock your opponents out of an arena. In the arena, there are speed boosts, launch pads and bumpers that will send you flying. All of these can be used against your opponents or the more likely, undermine your strategy. Oh right, I forgot to tell you one really important conceit in Omnibus – there are no brakes or deceleration. Your bus starts around 50mph (Speed style!) and can only accelerate from there. Buses and high speeds – always a good combination.
The lack of brakes or deceleration continues into the single player campaign, which is made up of roughly 10 levels for you to explore. In each level, you will receive quests from different sources for you to complete and increase Omnibus’s fame. I tried a few different levels. My favorite level was driving my bus with a water can attachment in the back. I planted corn from the back as I drove around and attempted to collect it before hitting one of the randomly growing bumpers that insisted on bounce me off the station into space. I also enjoyed trying to reach the moon…dodging asteroids…as a bus.
Different buses have some different abilities like the cow bus that has the ability to jump. You know, for the platforming level. Yes, the bus game has a platforming level. That’s just how wacky the game is. The thing is, the more I would miss a platform and fall into the canyon, hit a bumper and fly off into space or crash into an asteroid, the more I wanted to play it. I wanted to know the story of Omnibus. Yes, it does feel weird to write that.
Omnibus looks to release in the first half of 2016 on PC and apparently the Atari Jaguar. With all the zany antics in the game, I’m definitely interested to see where Omnibus goes. This is especially true if they implement hats in the game as was hinted to me on the show floor. Yes, I said buses with hats.