Ever wondered what it’s like if God of War and Diablo 3 combined and became a game? Well look no further, Redeemer has got you covered. A game that’s part brawler and part survival. A game that tests your mettle and your mental prowess. A game that’s all about hitting the enemies where it hurts. Let’s see if it’s worth picking up.
Platform Reviewed: PC
Platforms Available: PC
Publisher: Gambitious Digital Entertainment
Developer: Sobaka Studio
Release Date: August 2, 2017
MSRP: $14.99 (419.95 PHP)
This review is based on a review copy provided by Gambitious Digital Entertainment.
PC specifications used in playing the game:
Intel Pentium CPU G3258
NVIDIA GeForce GTX750 Ti
8GB RAM
Game Display Settings configured to: High
Resolution: 1920×1080
Redeemer is an indie game developed by Sobaka Studio, a team of five developers from Russia. This is their first foray into gaming and I can truly say what a big start.
The game is a top-down action brawler-shooter game. I liken it to games like Diablo 3 for its top-down layout but its gameplay reminds me a lot of God of War or The Last of Us. You play the game as Vasily, an ex mercenary who tried to live amongst monks to escape from the horrors he had from his past. I think this is why he is called the Redeemer because he chose to escape from the life of killing to a life of peacefulness.
But one day, that tranquility was broken when mercenaries came to ravage the peaceful town of the monks. Killing everyone in their path and they tried to capture Vasily. Vasily had no choice but to retaliate and leave his peaceful life to try and avenge his brothers and save the ones that were captured by the mercenaries.
The game offers an intense combat gameplay. There are a lot of weapons and tools at your disposal to use against the hordes of enemies. The favorite firearm I like to use is the shotgun as it effectively kills most of the enemies in one or two shots. You can even line up enemies to take them all at once with one bullet. For the melee weapons, I like using the stun baton because as the weapon name itself it can effectively stun enemies and stop them dead on their tracks. The fire axe is also good as it delivers critical hits to most enemies. The only downside being is that it has a slow animation attack which leaves an opening for the enemies to hit you. You also have to be mindful when using your weapons though as they degrade in time and once it does you can no longer use it. This makes the combat more calculated than ever because you have to know when to rain down the bullets on your enemies and when to use the environment instead. You also can’t stack the bullets so if you want to use the next weapon available you will either have to give up the one you’re using or empty it first.
What is also unique to this game is that you can use the environment to your advantage. There are certain highlighted objects in the environment that you can use to execute your enemies. It can be a protruding branch or an operation table that has an electric saw. All of these can bring brutal deaths to your enemies and the game is very liberal when it comes to that. There are also objects in the area that you can pick up to throw at the enemies in one shot. Although it will take more than one object to kill tougher enemies.
There are a variety of enemies in the game. Starting from the simple ones that you can take on in a one-on-one combat or even in hordes while others that need some strategizing so you can take them down effectively. There are about 15 levels for you to explore in the story mode, with each level having a varying amount of area to explore. There are checkpoints in each level for you to respawn should you be killed, and believe me, there may be times where you think you are invincible but then a gray screen comes over you as it announces your death.
Though the game is very fast paced and intense, you will still have to pay attention to your environment. The enemies hit hard and leaving yourself vulnerable will have you eating the dirt. Killing an enemy replenishes your health though and should you have critical health the best thing to do is to back up and have your health regenerate up to half of the max HP. You can also execute stealth kills by going behind enemies and making sure that you are not in their line of sight. Their line of sight is indicated by an icon over their heads letting you know when to go in for the perfect kill. There is also an arena mode where you can test how far you can survive in a battle against the hordes of enemies.
The level of detail in this game is so on point. You can actually see Vasily’s robes billowing in the wind. The specks of rain are very detailed. You can even see the details on the weapons even though they are very little compared to the area. The game sometimes zooms in on a kill, most especially on a critical kill. It is very gratuitous when it comes to the executions thus reminding me of God of War and The Last of Us.
The only downside I see in this game which I think would make this more awesome is a leveling system so you can upgrade your character and improve him. Because to me, it seems like the enemies get tougher but your character stays the same. It’s kind of unbalanced but I also think this makes the game as challenging as it is since it really tests your capabilities as to what you can do with what is given to you.
For an indie title, Redeemer is a very fun and entertaining game. I’ve spent countless hours going through each level albeit dying in some of them but I kept going on because it was that enjoyable. If you want a challenging, top-down, action-packed game with great quality, then this a game worth looking into.