A family-friendly shooter. It sounded silly at first, but you know what? After getting to go hands-on with Last Flag, the debut title from Night Street Studios, I’m ready. Capture the Flag is the name of the game here, and even in this early state, the premise is extremely well done. Rather than just focusing on getting eliminations, teamwork, communication, and the ability to hide a flag really darn well are all important here. It’s one of the first shooters I’ve played where I could feasibly bring in someone who has never played a shooter, and they could have the time of their life. Last Flag was a genuine surprise, and I can’t wait to play more of it.Screenshot: Night Street GamesEven if You’re Not Getting the Most Eliminations, You Can Still Be a Major Player on the TeamPlaying with members of the development team, alongside other journalists and content creators, we were split into teams of 5. Folks could volunteer to be a flag carrier, getting 1 minute and 30 seconds at the start of a match to hide a flag anywhere on their half of the map. Then, it’s time to start. The whole vibe of the game is very bright and colorful, looking a bit like Fortnite, but with a personality of its own. Set in an alternate universe gameshow, Last Flag is all about taking home a victory, pleasing the crowd, and soaking in the vibes. While one player plants the flag, other players can hunt down Cash Bots, giving players on their team the chance to boost their powers. As with any good hero shooter, every character has a set number of abilities available to them, and they’re easily upgradeable. Just a simple press of a button, and you’re ready to go. Finding a character that fits your playstyle was easy. Some characters are great for stealth. Others are better for getting up close and personal. Me? I was all in on the Thief.Sneaking behind enemy lines, trying to find the flag was completely my jam here. Everybody else could fight for domination over the towers near the middle of the map. I had a job to do, and I would do what I could to do it well. My character could speed through the map, teleporting and turning invisible, and hearing the chime of the flag nearby sent chills down my spine every time. Screenshot: Night Street Games‘Last Flag’ Has a Lot of Potential, Even in this Early StateNow, you may have seen that I mentioned Towers. Flags aren’t the only thing that needs to be captured here, as Towers make a tremendous difference in how the game could play out. Capturing either Tower A, B, or C would slowly start to reveal spots on the map where the Flag isn’t. If you’re not paying enough attention to your towers, your enemies could quickly discover where you hid your flag. If they capture it? You’ve got 60 seconds to get it back, but don’t expect it to be easy by any means. I say that from personal experience. Out of the 4 games we played, our team only took home the victory in one round. But even at that point? I was having the time of my life. Finding the flag is exhilarating. Trying to get it back to your base, dodging gunfire and sweating bullets, made me feel the same way I did back during my Halo 3 CTF days. While this early build only had two maps available to play on, they were both huge enough that we didn’t even get to explore them fully before our playtest came to an end. As it stands, as a debut title, Last Flag has a lot of potential. Playing through these matches had me grinning from ear to ear. Sure, we lost more than we won. But I couldn’t stop smiling when I was playing. I never thought that a “family-friendly shooter” would be up my alley, but here we are. I’m patiently waiting to jump back into Last Flag again, and if they keep polishing this one up? It has the potential to be a multiplayer hit.The post The Brothers From ‘Imagine Dragons’ Are Leading Development on a Competitive Shooter Called ‘Last Flag’, and It Actually Rocks (Hands-on Impressions) appeared first on VICE.