Minimum (PC) Review

Art styles can make or break a game. Go for a look that is too realistic and the game can quickly become dated as games with better visuals are released. Try out a more simplistic or cartoony style and it could alienate some fans that might otherwise have been interested in the game. Minimum settles right between these two approaches. The art style is reminiscent of the game's name: characters are made of blocks and there are no textures. On the other hand, a beautiful lighting engine gives the battlefield a sense of realism that seems impossible given the art direction. Duking it out in a robotic research facility or in Feudal Japan has never been so fun.

To enjoy the beautiful visuals, a few different game modes have been implemented. The first is a standard death match that pits two teams of five players in a battle to the death. First team to 50 kills wins the match and bonus crafting materials to be used outside of it. These crafting materials may be used to purchase and build new weapons and armour. The second is the recently added horde mode. While it hasn't been fully fleshed out just yet, it will provide some brief entertainment for people that enjoy fighting wave after wave of dinosaurs and samurai. Both of these game types are merely side features, neither fully fleshed out nor addictive enough to keep gamers coming back.

The third and final game mode is the main attraction: Titan Mode. Teams are tasked with killing Creeps, small spiders and robots, and picking up the crystals they drop to power up Titans. The more crystals a Titan has, the more damage it can deal out and sustain. After a set amount of time, the gigantic Titans are released and slowly march to the middle of the arena to do battle. After one defeats the other, the victor will continue marching deep into enemy territory until it finds the base and destroys the core, thus ending the match. Along the way, the Titan can be harmed by turrets and enemy players, and it will also be hindered by defensive walls that it must break down. The thrill of perfectly executing a strategy to get the Titan powered up so that it can crash through enemy lines is what will keep people coming back to Minimum.

Minimum's most interesting hook is the crafting and levelling system that serves as the base for all of its matches. Weapons level up with each consecutive kill, making them more powerful and diverse as the competition wears on. Armour can be crafted during the game with supplies dropped by slain Creeps, Titans, and dead opponents. The difference between the two systems is that weapon levels reset after each death, but armour upgrades stay with the player even after they are killed. Fully powered weapons are amazing fun to use so it is a shame they are so easy to lose, and it would be better if they had more permanence like the armour.