Action-platformer that blends tactical combat and real-time investigation as you race against the clock to find a bomb in the last remaining city on Earth.
Set in a dystopian future where Earth has become a smoldering wasteland and a single mega-city remains, the game throws you into the boots of a Law Ministry officer tasked with maintaining order and, more crucially, stopping a nuclear terrorist before it’s too late.
You start with basic movement, running, jumping, grabbing ledges, but the simplicity of these actions hides a deeper, more complex gameplay loop. There’s no stamina bar to slow you down, but overconfidence gets punished fast. Streets are teeming with hostile gang members, bullets fly quickly, and cover doesn’t last long.
Thankfully, you’re not helpless. You have a dash ability to dart out of harm’s way, a rechargeable power meter that fuels your dash and shield, and a gun that can alternate between single fire and full auto. Ammo, though, is scarce.
You’ll constantly be managing your magazine and scavenging for white-square-marked pickups scattered across mission zones. Run dry, and you’ll need to get personal by bashing enemies with your gun or wrestling them into submission with close-quarters grabs, punches, or head-butts. The shield mechanic sounds great, but it’s hard to use due to quick gameplay. While it consumes power like the dash, timing it perfectly lets you reflect enemy attacks.
Not every situation has to end in bloodshed. Each enemy has a visible tri-bar display showing their health, stamina, and resolve. Drop their resolve, by shouting commands or overwhelming them, and they might surrender. You can also use fists to knock them out or take the lethal route. The game lets you choose how to handle each encounter, but gun turns out to be the best negotiating tactic.
The best strategy is to move from cover to cover and shout when you’re close enough. If the criminal doesn’t react, you can fire a single shot into him to lower his stats. If another shout doesn’t help, you can try running into him with a punch or fire another bullet. Sometimes you’ll receive instructions to take someone alive, but these mini-objectives don’t matter. Enemy variety is interesting, and you’ll see brutes, military guys, secret agents, and even mutants.
The overarching goal is to locate a nuclear bomb hidden somewhere in New Babel. Time is your enemy. The game offers three difficulty levels, each adjusting how much time you have to complete your mission and how much damage you can take. Missions pop up around the city, and you fly above it in real time, selecting where to go next.
Each mission drops you into a map that might start looking too similar after a while. I’m not sure if it’s random, but there’s always a building with several floors. You’ll take out criminals, rescue hostages, and search for evidence. These pieces of evidence feed into your investigation of major gangs. One of them has the bomb, but you won’t know who until you’ve gathered enough intel,
What’s more, time doesn’t stop. Whether you’re in a mission, traveling between objectives, or even healing in HQ, the clock is always ticking. Only hovering above the city or browsing menus gives you a breather.
After several missions, it’s a good idea to return to HQ. You can resupply, repair, upgrade stats, or purchase unique gear, but everything costs requisitions. Requisitions, the in-game currency, are awarded during missions. Do things “by the book” and you’ll earn more. Execute a surrendering foe, and you’ll lose some.
Health and ammo don’t replenish automatically, so planning is crucial. Dive into too many missions in a row without restocking, and you might find yourself under-equipped and outgunned.
Beyond the missions, the game offers subtle world-building through the dispatch system. You can call various contacts by dialing numbers, some provided, some discovered from other sources. These conversations aren’t essential, but they add something extra to the game.
Lastly, although achievements are included, they don’t appear to be working. For instance, I completed a mission without killing anyone and broke several windows, but none of the achievements unlocked.
