Played my first run, escaped with a first character. Whith my second character, I encountered that shark ennemy who sent me flying in a corridor outside of the playable area. I couldn't move and had to abandon my run to keep on playing. Uninstalled, never touched again.
First of all, this game is not about modern leftism. No identity politics, no shunning of people because white, because male, heterosexual or christian. No gamer will feel designated as the enemy of Humanity, unless you're part of the 1% of the wealthy capitalist who oppress the people of course... Now, unto the game. You control a rioter and its accompagnying crowd into bashing cops and gathering more friendlies on your side. You use tools to fight: fists, melee and throwing weapons. You act with your own character or manage the crowd itself by holding left trigger. The crowd is very manageable: you can make it move and attack easily, bringing it into safety when needed, which avoids frustration. Saving people from your crowd will allow you to unlock gear at the end of the level, which is the only incentive to play conservatively (ha ha). Perhaps the game needs more incentive on this, like real score-based gameplay. I also needs a little bit of work on the soundscape. The music is somehow overwhelming, and the fighting bits would need a little bit of punch to convey the rampage happening on screen. Overall good fun, good core mechanics, it will it some work after release to blossom into its full potential.
At the part 6 of the game, I cannot move out of a tent, no matter how many times I start the level over and over. Wait for a fix.
This review is based on the early access. The PROS: - great visuals, successful retro 3d shooter with modern content. - the gameplay is perfect: fast, responsive, gunplay is satisfying, limited saves prevent from cheesing the game. The CONS: - navigation through levels is often a chore, nothing differenciates a corridor from the three next corridors, game designers need to design the **** out of their level layouts so that players can have a basic idea of the direction they're moving toward.
The devs succeeded in the artistic and visual departments, not so in the gameplay. To put it bluntly, Sea Salt is way too limited in its gameplay (movement, attack and regroup buttons), and the strategic component is nullified by core decisions: no control over your units, limited field of view (no zoom out). The boss battles and the arena may be the only things to salvage from it. The content is also meager, do not expect dozens of hours out of it. Lastly, the options menu needs some work to bring proper controller key bindings, and mouse controls desperately needs to be implemented. I will consider updating my review when this game receives the proper support it needs.
Your opinion on this game will depend on wether you like its unique take on tile-based strategy genre. If you do like it as myself, you will earn an addictive game with deep enough mechanics to last several dozens of hours of play time. The roguelite elements are almost unrelevant althought advertised plentifully. The progression consists of unlocking new mech squads by completing achievements. Those new squads provide dramatically new strategy pattern to learn and take advantage to in order to achieve victory. If you add randomized and custom squads, you're in for an infinite variation of gameplay. That said, I hope the game will improve in the graphics department (a little bit too pixel art) and more content to be added (islands, ennemies).
I'm one of those late to the game, as I was admittedly on the fence of buying because of the graphics. What a mistake. Twenty minutes later and into my second run, I was already hooked and eagerly anticipating the moment I could lay my hands again on this little marvel of game design. Every jump is a little burst of excitation you'll be addicted soon too.
Void Bastards is, of all those indie roguelites, the one I keep coming back to. The progression is satistactory, the repetition is moderated by the fact that you always need to plan ahead what you need to do on the ship you're boarding, so every run, every docking feels fresh. The production value is also great, with a comic book style that is trully unique.
