"Death Cycle" is a first-person action game launched by the "dishonored" series manufacturer Arkane Studios. In the limited 5 hours, the author experienced the charm and concise and complicated system of this work. The following will bring you a detailed trial experience.
The story of this work takes place on a mysterious island that keeps circulating the same day life-"Black Reef Island". People on the island will wake up in the same condition in the same morning no matter whether they are alive until midnight or dying unfortunately. Although "Time Cycle" is a common theme in various media works, the difference in this work is that the cycle is not the ability of the protagonist, but a special bonus unique to this small island. All people living on the island are Stuck in this cycle. Therefore, it is extremely dangerous here. Death loses its original meaning, people will lose their lives because of trivial things, and sometimes they can even see lunatics who take suicide for pleasure.
Thanks to the outstanding design taste of Arkane Studio, the dangerous atmosphere of Black Reef Island reveals a strange beauty _p3sp
The player trapped on the island of The assassin "Colt" assassinated the 8 most important people on the island to end the cycle. However, these target characters are actually in a cycle. If only some of the goals are solved hastily, they will be resurrected in the next cycle. And the people on the island enjoyed this endless banquet, and they would never allow Colt to break the cycle. Therefore, Colt had to "kill eight goals alone in one day." This is an extremely difficult task in many works with assassination as the theme.
Another assassin in the game, "Julianna" makes the already difficult task even more difficult. She plays the role of teasing and hunting down Colt in the game. Juliana will disguise as ordinary NPCs and attack Colt when the player explores the map. The super combat power makes it difficult for the player to parry.Her presence undoubtedly added a huge obstacle to the mission.
Unfortunately this time, the author failed to experience Colt, who used Juliana to chase and kill other players. After the release, this multiplayer element may make the task more difficult. However, multiplayer is not a mandatory feature, players can freely choose whether to enable this feature, so don’t worry too much.
main menu mode selection screen. Colt trying to break the cycle and Juliana who guard the cycle. The conflict between the two is also at the center of the story.
Mentions of assassination-themed action games, naturally think of the "Hitman" series and the "Shame" series developed by Arkane Studios. The biggest difference is the "lack of information about the target of the assassination." Taking the "Killer" series as an example, general information such as the appearance and behavior mode of the assassination target, the map structure, and the deployment of the enemy will be explained before the start of each mission. As for the "Shame" series, players only need to eliminate targets in specific locations on the map according to the plot flow. In this game, there is very little information about the assassination target, and the player can't even know the basic information such as the identity of the target person and the behavior pattern on the island.
This information must be collected by the players themselves. The island is divided into several large and complex areas, each area has its own theme, such as research institutes, clubs, amusement parks, etc. Players need to find various files to collect information in the process of exploring each area, so as to grasp the location, behavior pattern, and interpersonal relationship of the target person. Compared with past assassination works, this work pays more attention to information collection and plan planning, so it has a stronger sense of exploration.
Harriet Moss, one of the assassination targets,A speech is in progress. These activities are repeated endlessly on the island
The method that makes this sense of exploration possible is the "loop" in the title. The "loop" system in the game divides each day into four stages: morning, noon, afternoon, and evening. If there is a goal alive at the end of the day, then Colt will wake up in the same morning on the same day. The same was true for Colt's death, and immediately jumped to the morning of the same day after his death. Unlike other residents on the island, Colt has the unique ability to "resurrect twice in the same cycle". However, as described below, the difficulty of this game is relatively high. This ability does not directly reduce the difficulty of the task. A little carelessness will kill Huangquan. It is more appropriate to say that the player "can only die twice".
Faced with the dilemma of insufficient time, information, and combat effectiveness, players have to work out a set of assassination plans in the process of repetition, and complete this extremely difficult assassination mission with extremely high efficiency. Explore the same map repeatedly, and after mastering the enemy's deployment, behavior patterns, and effective attack methods, you can exterminate the enemy magnificently. Although the "Shame" series also provides players with this way of playing, this game uses the "loop" system to induce players to play in this way very naturally.
In addition to the unique game flow, the operation feel of this game is also very similar to the "disgrace" series. A wide variety of equipment is prepared for players in the game: firearms (pistols, shotguns, rifles, etc.), melee weapons (machetes, etc.), tools (grenades, hacking tools, etc.). In addition, Colt also possesses a super power called "Slab" (Slab), which can achieve short-distance teleportation or cause damage to connected enemies. The organs set up on the map also brought a variety of combat methods, such as shooting through explosives and emitting poisonous gas. The three-dimensional level design gives players freedom to play. They can either quietly solve every enemy from behind, or find a route to bypass the enemy to get to the goal, or break through from the front to create a bloody path. Whether it is the brisk operation or the enemy's behavior, it makes the players of the "Shame" series more familiar.
The feeling of using the short-distance teleport ability to sneak behind the enemy and destroy it is completely the taste of the "disgrace" series
However,In this game, the player-controlled Colt is quite easy to die. On the one hand, the enemy will frequently launch fierce attacks, on the other hand, the means to restore health in the game is very scarce, so a small mistake will kill Colt. The reliable superpower "Slate" can only be equipped with two at the same time, and it is not powerful enough to reverse the player's overwhelming disadvantage in the early game. It is difficult to confront countless enemies head-on. This distinguishes this game from the "Shame" series, which focuses on using superpowers to destroy enemies in gorgeous or funny ways, as if it were a matchless game.
If you act carelessly, you will attract enemies, and you will be instantly surrounded by countless enemies
Although "difficult" is the first impression you get after the trial play With the advancement of the game, the rich character enhancement elements in this work can make this situation change. The role enhancement methods in this work are mainly to collect guns, accessories, slates and other equipment.
The types of firearms in this work are very rich, and the operation methods, power, quietness and other attributes are different from each other, so it is very important to obtain a firearm suitable for your own tactics. Accessories are props with buff effects. Mounted on a firearm, you can give the firearm the effects of "increasing the speed of reloading" or "letting bullets through the enemy". When Colt himself is equipped, he can obtain effects such as "increasing movement speed" and "sprinting into enemies." The effect of each trinket is remarkable, sometimes enough to reverse a battle.
In addition, all the "slates" are very useful. It not only allows you to try completely different tactics, but also has the advantage of upgrading to obtain additional effects, such as "swap positions with the enemy" after the upgrade of the short-distance teleportation slab. , After upgrading the connection slab, you will get "By connecting with the enemy, you can restore your own health while inflicting damage to the enemy" and so on. Even in the early stages of the game, players can freely express their creativity. When the equipment acquired by the player gets better and better, the player can obviously feel the increase in combat effectiveness. This means that players may be able to crush the enemy with absolute power in the late game.
Select the menu interface of the equipment before starting each mission. There is no concept such as skill tree in this work. The performance of the character depends entirely on the equipment.
The equipment in this work cannot be purchased through the store, at least in the initial stage, there is no such concept. Players need to pick up equipment from the map or by defeating the enemy to seize equipment, which can basically only be obtained from the current area.
In addition, all enemies in each area have certain characteristics, with different personalities, behaviors, and equipment. There is a concept of "rarity" in the equipment in this work. Even if the appearance looks extremely similar, the performance may vary greatly. For example, a gun dropped by a powerful enemy may have useful special effects such as "slowing down the enemy's movement speed" and "generating poison gas when a bullet hits." This kind of treasure hunting element similar to the treasure hunter's works enables players to fully enjoy the fun of collecting equipment and customizing the combination of equipment.
After defeating powerful enemies, collecting dropped items is also one of the charms of this work
However, it should be noted that players cannot bring the equipment collected in the next loop In a cycle, I had to start all over again like other Roguelike games. What if you must keep it? At this time a mysterious substance called "Residium" comes in handy. After the player injects Residium into the equipment, the equipment can be brought into the next cycle. In addition to being obtained by interacting with objects on the map, Residium can also be obtained by converting unnecessary equipment at the base.
Each cycle will randomly configure objects with "Residium" resources to a certain extent
As mentioned earlier,Colt has the ability to "can die twice in the same cycle", and every time he dies, he loses all his current "Residium". However, the lost "Residium" will remain where he died, and Colt can be recovered in the same cycle. The "Residium" system is similar to the "soul" that acts as experience and currency in the "Dark Soul" series. Since the player has to return to the base to convert or inject "Residium", there are two common situations when players are navigating the map: they collect "Residium" everywhere in order to bring their favorite equipment to the next cycle, and they cannot die because of accidental death. Bring the hard-to-obtain good equipment into the next cycle. The "Residium" system has brought changes to the "loops" that tend to repeat similar behavior patterns, allowing players to fully experience the fun of RPG elements that "become stronger in each cycle".
In summary, this game brings a unique experience to players by organically combining various elements such as puzzle solving elements, action elements, level design, RPG elements. In this work, players will piece together clues scattered on the island to figure out the truth and formulate the most appropriate assassination plan. In the process, use guns, tools, and superpowers to knock down enemies gorgeously and briskly, and freely unleash all the possibilities of breaking through. Even if it fails, it can continue to grow stronger again and again. It is indeed a game design created after careful consideration.
The author’s only concern is that once players have established an efficient assassination route, they are likely to repeat similar actions. Although there are many things that can be done in the game, such as exploring the map to collect clues, understanding the map structure and time changes, and collecting equipment, etc., the cyclic system means that the player will play the same map repeatedly, causing the player's actions to gradually become monotonous and old-fashioned.
This time I only played the beginning of the game, but the subsequent plot development, the richness of equipment and superpower types and other factors may affect the author's final evaluation of this work. To be sure, at least the author had a great time during the first 5 hours of the trial. There is no doubt that this work is definitely a work that players can't wait to play.
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