DeadCore (PC) Review

The game's influences are eclectic; it borrows its control scheme and gothic/sci-fi hybrid art style from Quake and Unreal, while marrying the lightning pace and instant respawns of Super Meat Boy to the exploration component of the Metroid Prime games. Perhaps it's the unlikely combination of game mechanics, or the nebulous plot that's conveyed primarily through collectible text logs, but even though the game's pieces are all familiar, the package as a whole feels inexplicably alien. The one game DeadCore really feels similar to is AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard for Gravity, which is even more absurd than it sounds, because, until now, nothing has felt similar to Aaaaa! Many of the parallels are superficial - both games are first-person arcade-style affairs centred on the vertical traversal of geometric structures - but the two share a more qualitative connection, as well. Specifically, it takes several hours to determine if either game is being played correctly.

The operative word when describing DeadCore is "loose." The controls offer a level of midair handling akin to Mario with a set of thrusters. Massive chunks of each level can be bypassed with a little ingenuity, and the narrative is totally optional. The game is functionally linear, but the line twists and obscures itself so much that it sure doesn't feel linear. There are times when the intended path is oddly difficult to find and with the leaderboards dominated by exploit-abusers, and the knowledge that there are collectibles and power-ups about, the game practically dares its players to find their own way to each level's exit.

Whether or not this is good level design will depend entirely on the gamer. The open embracement of sequence breaking will make the game an absolute treasure for speedrunners - even more so than would be expected of a game that constantly times its players. On the other hand, those looking for some precision platforming will be disappointed, as the game's enemies insert an element of chaos to the gameplay that can't always be accounted for with practice. Those that don't have a preference for play style will likely find themselves torn between exploration and speed for a while, before realising that quickly completing levels before collecting all the power-ups and completing the game is rather pointless.

For most, this realisation will come when it becomes evident that DeadCore intends to be as much a puzzle game as it is a platformer. There are several obstacles throughout that no player could conceivably overcome on their first try, simply because nobody would consider performing the unorthodox movements required to bypass them. The term "jumping puzzle" has always seemed like a misnomer, but it is appropriate here - these are puzzles that are solved with complex jumping techniques. Even the puzzles that are solved with the SwitchGun (a "gun" that activates machinery and temporarily deactivates enemies) are designed in tandem with the player's jumping abilities, and the game squeezes an impressive amount of content out of this pair. Launch pads will need to be deactivated to create safe platforms, doors will have to be opened when plummeting towards them, and gravity must be altered around specific areas to navigate three-dimensional mazes. The gravity-changing mechanic is particularly interesting, not only because it cracks the level design wide open, but because it also facilitates some of the cleverest jumping puzzles included.

If this review sounds less critical and more descriptive than usual, it's because DeadCore has neither special highlights nor egregious flaws. It simply provides the tools and environment for a fun, open-ended, and unique series of time trials. Its qualitative traits are mostly broad, rather than specific, such as how it achieves depth without sacrificing simplicity, thanks to the all-purpose nature of the SwitchGun. The exception, and the game's only major problem, is its camera perspective. First-person platforming has never been a good idea, so it's baffling that such otherwise competent developers would think to build an entire game around it. In fact, it's probably a testament to how well-built the rest of the game is that this fact alone doesn't ruin the whole experience.

Several platforms are far too small to accurately land on with only a vague idea of where the protagonist's feet are, and since the double-jump ability has usually already been exhausted by the time the player is allowed to land on solid ground, the game can't rely on the crutch that the Metroid Prime games had. The nadir of the game is, without a doubt, a repeated scenario that tasks players with dashing between rows of instant-death lasers. Not only does the first-person viewpoint prevent players from avoiding collisions, it prevents them from determining where a collision has occurred, making it impossible to learn and improve from mistakes. The game's second-largest problem - a less-than-preferable number of checkpoints - wouldn't even be a problem if it wasn't for these sections. Finally, the rocket-jumping ability (oh, by the way, there's a rocket-jumping ability) is fairly unreliable, but it's also so underused that any complaints about it barely register as nitpicks.

Capping off the list of things about DeadCore that are difficult to describe is its atmosphere. As mentioned before, the art design seems to intentionally hearken back to the Unreal series, which is oddly appropriate as "unreal" is perhaps the best word for it. For one thing, the game could be accurately titled "Beautiful Skyboxes: The Game" (granted, anything would have been more accurate than its actual title). More than that, though, the ability to see every level of the colossal eldritch tower that is the game's setting off in the distance as it reaches into vast cyclones in two directions evokes an unprecedented feeling of awe.

The enemies are, like the setting, all geometric machines, betraying the lack of an animator among the developers (which is probably the reason the game is in first-person), but they totally fit the aesthetic, so it's more than forgivable. As for the audio, the soundtrack is an eclectic collection of electronic genres, from layered ambient synth to breakneck drum & bass, some of which is more appropriate than others, while the sound effects are mostly computerised chirps and whirrs. DeadCore's sound design is such that its sound effects and music tend to meld together - an unexpectedly pleasant effect that adds one final layer of disorientation to the game's hazy, malleable design.