Developer: 13AM Games
Publisher: Grafitti Games
Platforms: PC, Switch
Tested On: PC
Double Cross – Review
Different dimensions with various inhabitants and monsters, an agent at a high profile organisation and a multiverse to save; you may think you’re in the DC Universe but you’re not! The brains behind the popular party game Runbow have brought us a new game to add to our collection. This time it’s an action platform game called Double Cross. A risk? Maybe, since there’s already a ton of platformers to choose from. Let’s take a look!
Story
In Double Cross, you’ll play as Zahra, an agent at R.I.F.T (Regulators of Interdimensional Frontiers and Technology). Your job is to protect the peace and order between all dimensions. A recent attack on the R.I.F.T. headquarters offers a new case in which you’ll use armour and gear designed by R.I.F.T. to swing, fight and research in different dimensions. Along the way, you gather clues to reveal the identity of the person that attacked R.I.F.T. It’s up to you to save every dimension in the universe.
The whole game revolves around the story so you can say it’s pretty important. It’s also pretty good. There’s the change from the action to the storytelling and detective part and vice versa. It’s a great combination and it’s working well.
Graphics
This game uses 2D graphics. We can tell some inspiration was found in the anime genre. It’s nice that all characters seem to have their own unique look. Another great aspect here is the creativity of the developers. Since the story enrolls in different dimensions, we see a lot of different creatures. It’s absolutely lovely to see all of them come together in this game. Besides this, there’s no voice acting; the conversations are all graphical. However, we would’ve loved some voice acting here to match the great characters.
Sound
The sound that Double Cross uses is very energetic. It makes you want to move faster and it also provides an adrenaline rush kind of feeling. It is actually also very repetitive but you don’t really notice this until you start paying attention to the music and not the gameplay itself. You’re so into wanting to move forward, that you don’t notice it’s actually the same tunes playing over and over again. So obviously this repetitiveness isn’t a big obstacle, it still manages to fit in with the gameplay and the sort of rush feeling you get.
Gameplay
Double Cross is an action platform game. It’s your mission to gather as much clues as you can in order to reveal the identity of the secret attacker of R.I.F.T. You can go after these clues in multiple dimensions, such as Reptarria and The Funderdome. Each of these dimensions consists out of four levels: an easy, medium and hard one. The fourth one is a surprise in every dimension. It’s a shame the developers didn’t add more dimensions since the game is over pretty quick. By inventing their own universe, they had so many opportunities and we feel like they missed a lot of them by giving us only three dimensions to discover.
Going through these dimensions, you’ll have to overcome many obstacles. Of course, there are the monsters you have to defeat. These are pretty easy to defeat. You’ll usually kill them after only a few hits. Combat could’ve been a little more challenging. Then, there are substances you can’t fall into or you’re dead or laser beams that down you pretty quick as well. You pretty much have to avoid touching the ground. From the beginning on you’ll be equipped with a Portal Slinger which you’ll have to use to swing from one point to the other. Every dimensions has its own obstacles to deal with.
Saving happens at Checkpoint Terminals. You’ll encounter a few of them during a specific level in a dimension. Once you die, you return to the latest Checkpoint Terminal you’ve activated.
To prepare you for your adventure, and thus the game, there is some sort of tutorial. Before you can begin the actual game, you’re sent off to training. This is where you learn the basic movements of the game. This training is obligatory and honestly very welcome because it’s a great introduction to the game.
Zahra can also level up during her adventures. This can be done by collecting Upgradium, a glowing essence found throughout your travels in the various dimensions. When entering a level, there’s a certain amount of Upgradium present. It’s up to you to collect all of it. At the end of the level, all of the Upgradium is tallied up and converted into experience that levels up Zahra. It’s important that you reach the end of the level, because if you don’t, you lose all the Upgradium you gathered in that level.
Levelling up comes with a few benefits. You’ll unlock either a Permanent or Equipable upgrade. Maybe you’ll even get both! As the name itself says, Permanent Upgrades can be used at any time, anywhere. These include new attacks and increased health. Equipable Upgrades are only active if you equip them, which can be done by visiting a Checkpoint Terminal. You can equip three of these at a time and they can range from generating a shield to increasing your movement speed.
On top of your screen, you see an energy meter with five bars. You can fill these bars by picking up small orange energy balls that drop when Zahra defeats enemies or dodges attacks and obstacles. The bars have three uses. First of all, it can help you heal yourself. Above these three bars, there’s your health. Gaining a bit of health costs you one bar and you can use all five bars if you want to. However, be careful when doing this, because you’re totally vulnerable while being in the healing process. The second use of these bars is unleashing a powerful area-of-effect attack that hurts and knocks back enemies in range. This might come in handy when you’re swamped by a bunch of enemies. The third and final use is firing your most devastating attack. The FireBall deals enough damage to defeat or stun most enemies, and it is especially effective against large enemies. You have to make sure you aim your shot carefully though!
Conclusion
After the success of Runbow, a lot of pressure was put on the developers over at 13AM Games. We feel like 13AM Games missed some opportunities with this game even though a lot of possibilities were given. More dimensions, more challenging combat and some voice acting are the main demerits here. However, the nice looking graphics and short but fun gameplay make Double Cross an enjoyable game.
Double Cross - Review,
