Deadlink

Polish indie studio Gruby Entertainment is made up of 14 people. 14 passionate gamers have been developing the newly released action title Deadlink for the past two years, and you can't help but think of this project as somewhat of a contrast to Sony's upcoming blockbuster Concord. Both games take a proven, popular concept, spice it up with a tried and true, well-loved design style, and try to top it off with a dash of originality. Concord has been in development for over three years by 100+ people. Deadlink has taken two years to make by 14 brave souls, and it oozes passion, creativity and ingenuity while Firewalk Studio's is more akin to reviled Overwatch plagiarism (I've only tested the open beta, but still). In an age where games/movies are largely produced in boardrooms and where low financial risks seem to be rewarded over originality, imagination, passion, and enthusiasm... It's great to have games like Deadlink.

Gruby has blended Doom Eternal with Ghostrunner, sprinkled with Cyberpunk 2077 and Shogo: Armor Command designs, and spiced it all with the rogue-like approach of Hades. This is a fairly traditional roguelite game where it's all about try, die, learn - repeat, and the skill that builds up over the course of ones attempts quickly becomes rewarding.

In the distant future, the line between man and machine has blurred, and as a nameless cyborg pilot, you take on your employer and the government-funded Corporate Security Agency's mission to slaughter dozens of monstrous combat robots in cyberpunk sci-fi environments. As you shoot or kill oncoming enemies, your 'avatar' is upgraded, and if it breaks, it's a piece of cake because as a pilot, you're safely ensconced in a VR cage and can just jump into a newly made robot to continue firing bullets. The challenge lies in trying to get as far as possible without breaking your body because, as in all roguelites, you are forced to start from scratch every time your cyborg breaks.

The story in Deadlink is nothing that I intend to praise. The storytelling is also nothing to brag about as both parts are super typical of the subgenre itself and are told through relatively uninspired dialog boxes that mostly look like they were ripped from a mobile game. There are some nice voice actors here though and some humour that I appreciate but the story is not what makes Deadlink worth playing. Instead, it's the game mechanics that attract, and keep me playing. There are four character classes, tons of upgrades and the battles are thus varied depending on which class you choose, what your play style looks like, and what upgrades you select.

The battles are very reminiscent of Doom Eternal with some Overwatch tones. The shooting is super tight, the game control is impeccable and just like in Doom Eternal, I find myself fascinated by the possibilities that exist for the skilled player even if I have not quite mastered all the functions to be able to fly through the environments and spread destruction in the way that is demonstrably possible. As in Halo, each body can only carry two weapons at a time, which means that you'd better choose two guns that complement each other, then switch between them depending on the distance and type of enemy, and sometimes step close enough to deliver the famous left hook.

Deadlink is very, very fast and requires you to test out different weapon combinations, attacks and approaches (depending on the enemy type) in order to make your way through the enemy-laden lanes. As in Eternal and Ghostrunner, there is a beautiful precision built into the game mechanics that is rewarding enough as the weapons are fun to use and the movement pattern satisfying. The graphics are gorgeous too. Gruby's cyberpunk future is cartoony and drenched in character. The design looks like a mix between Shogo and System Shock with little details borrowed from Overwatch as well as Metroid and Halo. The mix... is brilliant.

I like the bosses, even if they are a bit overpowered sometimes. There is a single strategy that applies to all the bosses I've encountered and that is to push hard and mercilessly from the start, which I like but I would have loved a little more variety here. There should have been a boss or two where I as a player had to become a bit strategic and defensive to beat it, which I think would create more variety overall. However, this is a small complaint about an indie game that, in summary, offers brilliant FPS action drenched in character and passion.