A Hat In Time E3 Trailer Showcases Train Level, Secret Agent Owls

Remember when 3D platformers were a thing? So do the developers at Gears for Breakfast. The Denmark-based studio is working on A Hat In Time, a game they describe as a “3D collect-a-thon platformer” in the vein of Psychonauts, Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie. They’ve released a new trailer for it, just in time for E3, and it showcases the train level in all its glory.

There’s been a murder on the Owl Express, and Hat Kid has to investigate. She will use her hat powers and deductive skills to find the perpetrator before the train reaches its destination. By exploring the train and talking to the passangers, she unlocks different suspects. In the end, the player’s detective skills are what will allow her to pick the right person to blame.

The train is filled with dark, slender birds in trenchcoats, pretending to be owls. It’s a delightful, loving homage to The Milkman Conspiracy from Psychonauts, and the tone is just right. They’re obviously the murderers, the creepy bastards. There’s a reason it’s called “a murder of crows”.

One other interesting thing from the trailer, which I don’t think was shown before, is the Ice Hat. Different hats offer different powers in the game, and the Ice Hat allows you to freeze yourself. This lets you use special platforms to propel yourself to otherwise inaccessible places.

A Hat In Time is coming this fall to PC, and it’s going to cost $20. You can get beta access already if you’re willing to pay a bit more. The Kickstarter campaign mentioned the possibility of a WiiU port, but that seems kinda redundant at this point. Ports to other consoles were also mentioned on the page, but there doesn’t seem to be any word on them past that.