Developer: Treetop
Publisher: Over The Moon
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Terrorbytes – Preview
Even with the recent remake of Pac-Man World, it’s easy to assume that many younger gamers will probably have never played a Pac-Man title in their life. The yellow orb-chomping critter is already 44 years old and did help shape the gaming industry as we know it. We have seen many titles that Pac-Man and his relatives and frenemies have inspired, but only a few of those reached the same level of success as the original Bandai Namco title. Now, we are taking a closer look at something that could have come directly out of a B-horror flick with Pac-Man, Stranger Things, and TRON as the main sources of inspiration. While Terrorbytes is still in Early Access, we already had a blast.
We were not exaggerating when we stated that Terrorbytes is clearly inspired by Pac-Man, Stranger Things, and TRON. In the game, we get to experience familiar Pac-Man gameplay, albeit with a very spooky twist. The character select screen omits an authentic Stranger Things vibe, especially with the young kids being stuck in an otherworldly place. Last but not least, the ’80s arcade-like setting of the safe room in the game, as well as the neon influences, did remind us of a TRON-like experience. All of these items mesh surprisingly well together, and the sound design is also nicely handled. You’ll hear spooky sounds in the distance, and all in all, the atmosphere is quite unsettling. The setting of kids getting sucked into an old-school arcade cabinet feels fairly original, especially as you’re taking on a corrupted version of the game’s heroine. You, and your friends, don the capes of the baddies of the game, trying to take down Ms. Croak-Man.
When it comes to the gameplay, most aspects are straightforward, but the game is not easy at all. You’ll have to collect pellets that are spread across the map, very much akin to the gameplay of a traditional Pac-Man game. Outside of the pellets, you’ll also find blueprints for items and base upgrades, items that are worth additional points, and so on. Everything you do in the game will use those points, even simple actions such as shutting the safe room’s door or sprinting. Making items will also subtract from that shared pool of points, and at the end of a round, you’ll see which players collected the most and who used up the most points. Points (or pellet) management is key here, as you’ll need to have enough accumulated points in order to survive the next attack by Ms. Croak-Man. If you do not have enough points, then you’ll kick the bucket. If you do have enough, then you’ll make it to the next set of rounds. The game is also quite brutal if players die, as not retrieving their corpse will subtract even more points. If all players perish during a round, all your pellets are gone. It’s a brutal gameplay loop, but it’s also a rather entertaining and exciting one.
The proximity-based voice chat makes sense here, especially when fellow party members are starting to perish in the maze-like corridors of the game. This way, other players will need to pay attention to find out if other players are dead or not, and things feel a lot more exciting and creepier this way. Even so, a few minor inconveniences were noticeable, however, as the chat would cut out during level select or other loading segments. This way, players would sometimes be cut off mid-sentence, and it wasn’t clear when the cut-off happened at times. It was only a minor inconvenience, but still noticeable enough to warrant a mention here.
Minor bugs and graphical issues are present in the game. We noticed a bit of texture popping and some clipping, but these were minor issues. We did encounter a few instances of unresponsive controls where we couldn’t access our purchased items. More than once we couldn’t use our flashlight, as we were unable to select it. The toggle items button simply didn’t do anything during a few rounds. This sometimes caused us to die unfairly, as we couldn’t see where we were going in dark corridors when Ms. Croak-Man was chasing us.
Conclusion
While there are clearly still some rough edges present in the Early Access version of Terrorbytes, we already feel like this is a highly polished party game. The overall gameplay loop proved to be extremely enjoyable, and when you can team up with friends, this is a title that’ll keep you occupied for quite a few gaming nights. While the difficulty level might just be a turn-off for some, it’s all the more satisfying when you’re able to complete a few levels in a row, collecting sufficient pellets to survive another set of rounds. We will be playing this one for weeks to come, and we are curious to see how the game will evolve during its Early Access period. If you have a few bucks to spare and are looking for a new coop game, be sure to check this one out.
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