Developer: Krafted Games
Publisher: Krafted Games
Platform: Switch, PC
Tested on: Switch
Polygod – Review
Modernization tends to make us forget how things were in the older days. The same goes for videogames, with newer arcade shooters being almost too easy to play and realism titles are sometimes being overcomplicated. Polygod is a game that was inspired by the first FPS games such as Doom and Wolfenstein, taking quick-paced action with a center-fired weapon and combining this with the modern roguelike genre to create a never-ending game.
Story
Polygod is a roguelike game that has nearly no background because of the way it was created. You play with a handful of different characters, each having unique stats, but why you are chosen to fight the gods remains in the dark. Some NPCs will have a vague dialogue about the story but there is absolutely nothing to go on lore based. This is a big reason why you don’t really get attached to the game: you are just dropped in to shoot some creatures but since the difficulty is so high and there isn’t a story to go with, many players will quit the game rather soon.
Graphics
To perfectly fit in the retro-ish feel, the developers have chosen to use low polygons as graphics. This gives an old-school vibe while not making it feel too cheap. Although there is a rather small variety of enemies, each of them has a unique appearance. You see that time has been invested in the large differences between sceneries. These range from snowy mountains to sunny plains and hectic heights. In a simple shooter that stems from past times you’d think attention to details would be forgotten, but that’s not the case. Enemies exert souls when killed, mods are visible on the weapon and shots change form with upgrades.
Sound
Most shooters will have a catchy soundtrack to get you in the mood for playing, Polygod opted for the classic battle music scenario. This means that most of the interactions are mute, but when fighting an enemy music starts to play. Those who are older than eighteen will surely remember how a disco sounds like. Well, the best way to describe the combat tune is standing outside a 90-00’s disco with the bass coming through the walls. For some this will bring a nostalgic feeling while others will wonder how it was back then.
Gameplay
Polygod is a First-Person shooter that is based around the roguelike genre to increase difficulty. Gamers that are familiar with the setting know that although it can be frustrating, it will feed the lust for more as long as there is an amount of progress made. Sadly enough this is where this review takes a dark turn quite fast. The game suffers from a way too high difficulty level (not just the curve, but the level). You are dropped into the game with zero instructions, but that is not the main problem. You will quickly find yourself underpowered against enemies that can take you out in mere seconds, getting enough souls to finally pay for that upgrade will take some time and in most cases the Power-ups also power you down. Many gamers can get turned down quite quickly by the unfairness of it all.
To acquire said upgrades you must eliminate enemies to collect their souls and walk up to altars from Gaia who will offer blessings for a cost. These come in the form of either weapon upgrades or abilities to use in combat. Fighting the gnarly creatures in the realm will take great courage and skill because none of them are easy to defeat. To give a few examples: you have this armored unit that is only damageable when it attacks you, another enemy has rapid fire that will cut your health down to zero in moments, etc. Probably the most hated enemies are the cute little turtle-like blue creatures that cutely waggle around but when they spot you, they want to hug and blow themselves up, causing tremendous amounts of damage.
Polygod’s controls are rather simple but work just fine: run and gun like a classic game and have those fun 90’s moment again. Levels are all completely randomly generated with a seed system, you can write down or save seeds so you can try and complete missions later on. Furthermore, there is a co-op and versus mode available that allows for others to help you out in the main game.
Conclusion
Polygod is a very hard game that can only be won by the gods among us. The high difficulty and unforgiving enemies will make this title something to try over and over again. If it manages to grip the player into staying longer than three runs, the randomly generated levels will surely keep the experience different each time you play.
No Comments