If there was ever a game that suited being played to dubstep music at full volume, this is it! This game is a brightly lit, hectic, I-don’t-know-where-to-look, kind of game. Or at least, it should be.
It begins with you, a little shooter running around a building, shooting anything and everything that gets in your way! At the beginning you are told there is a male overlord that doesn’t trust you anymore, and because he’s so pissed at you, everything else wants to kill you too. But there’s a twist! You’re not really there!
Now, bear with me. When you die, YOU don’t actually die. You wake up as the REAL female protagonist in what can only be described as the chair out of Total Recall. The basis of the game is that the main protagonist takes over a different person (or “asset” as they’re called) each time the previous one dies. Each different asset has its own weapon, abilities and class, each time you die using that “asset”, that person is dead, done, deceased. So you get to feel a slight hit of guilt each time you die, which for me, was quite often.
The theory of the game is as simple as shoot, die, and repeat. Each time your asset dies on a level, you are warped back to the “Hub”, this is where you can wander around and buy upgrades such as more health, power and luck for your next asset. If you prefer a certain weapon, you can buy that for the next asset you use. But be careful! When that asset dies, the weapon goes with it and you have to buy that weapon each time if you really want it. When you’re done upgrading you can sit back down in your Matrix like chair and take control of the next asset that you’re willing to dispose of.
Now, here’s the downfall, each time your asset dies, you have to start from Level 1. You don’t start from where you died, and this is why I have not yet passed level 5 of the game. I’m not going to lie; the controller was nearly thrown a good few times when I died. “Oh come ON! He wasn’t even shooting at me!” “That laser came out of nowhere!” “Are you KIDDING me?!” these, are just a few of the statements that were shouted at my TV when dying.
This is the type of game that you need to sit down and grind on for a good few hours before beginning to progress, and unfortunately, you don’t get a feel for the storyline whilst going through the first few levels. All I know so far is that I’m making my way to this overlord to kill him, but why? I have no idea.
The graphics in the game are a good quality, 10tons have gone for a ‘neon steampunk future’ kind of look. With the levels mostly being shrouded in dark tones, and then splashing in the odd neon blue or UV purple. When the hordes of enemies come your way, the rave begins! All of a sudden the lights come blaring and lasers start shooting, there’s oranges, reds, purples, greens….. And then it all dies down again and you’re back to black.
The music SHOULD be pumping for this type of game, with some heavy bass that you can feel through your headphones whilst playing. The game does try to get the music across, and there are moments where you begin to feel the beat. But it’s just not powerful enough! I need music that will make me want to run in circles shooting all these robots, but at the moment I feel like going for a stroll, and maybe a swim.
Summary
All in all, this is an easy game to pick up, but unless you put in the grinding time, don’t expect to make it past the first boss. With the graphics being as bright as they are, I expected the music to also be a bit punchier, but it lacks the bass that it needs. This game was fun at first, but the gameplay became repetitive after a few deaths. If you lack the patience to upgrade regularly, play this game at your own risk!
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!