Developer: Platonic Partnership
Publisher: Platonic Partnership
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Voltage High Society – Preview
Voltage High Society is a first-person cyberpunk Metroidvania game developed and published by the indie game studio Platonic Partnership, and the game is currently in Early Access. With its gritty retro aesthetics and body horror elements, the game aims to bring a unique and immersive experience to players as they fight and explore their way through a grim and decayed city ruled by cybernetic monsters.
You drop into the story by jumping out of a helicopter right into a prison camp, and inmates are dying everywhere around you. In Voltage High Society, you take on the role of a nameless prisoner, fighting and exploring your way through a variety of environments in a decrepit futuristic city filled with cybernetic monsters. You must navigate this harsh cyberpunk world, trying to avoid or fight the dangers you encounter. As you progress through the game, you uncover the mysteries of the city and encounter a variety of characters, each with their own story to tell.
The game’s story is told through in-game dialogues and interaction with objects you encounter while exploring. The characters you meet and the logs you find will help to flesh out the dystopian world of Voltage High Society and give you a better overview of the game’s lore.
The first thing you’ll notice about this game is the unique style of the graphics. Voltage High Society boasts gritty retro aesthetics, with a distinct visual style that brings the game’s dark cyberpunk world to life. The graphics style has a retro look and feel, similar to games released in the ’90s. The game is mostly presented in monochrome black and white, but it lets the occasional splash of color stand out. For example, things like blood or fire are very noticeable. The game’s environments are well-designed and varied, ranging from decrepit city streets and abandoned buildings to hidden underground labs.
The character designs in the game are noteworthy, as you’ll encounter a wide range of bizarre cybernetic monsters;, such as combinations of skeletons and chunks of metal or cybernetic alien looking beings. Human characters generally look very similar to one another, with different models for different types of characters, like prisoners or guards. During dialogues you’ll see a portrait of the character next to the text they speak. Animation is simplistic, but it fits the overall old-school style of the game.
The UI is simple but adequate. The most important stats are always in view, and you’ll also be able to access an overview of your inventory and a map which displays your current objectives.
The soundtrack of the game consists of moody music, fitting the grim and dark atmosphere of the game. The sound effects are very basic, but fit the grittiness and the retro aesthetic of the graphics. The game doesn’t feature any voice acting in its current stage, dialogues will appear on the screen as text when you interact with characters.
As a Metroidvania game, Voltage High Society’s gameplay revolves around exploration and combat. You will mainly use your fists to fight your way through a variety of enemies. As you progress through the game, you’ll get access to new items such as various weapons, allowing you to defeat tougher enemies and access new areas. When exploring, you’ll learn some more about the city you’re in, and you’ll be able to collect currency, health, and energy to press further through the game.
The game is quite unforgiving and though the enemies don’t seem too tough at first, you’ll soon encounter enemies you won’t beat so easily. The moment you encounter a new type of challenging enemy, you’ll most likely die the first time around, until you figure out a tactic to beat the monster and continue exploring.
It’s only possible to save the game at certain save points you can find in the game. If you die, you’ll lose everything you collected and start over again at the last save point you encountered. If you haven’t found a save point recently, this can set you back quite a lot. You’ll be able to recover everything you had collected by going back to the place where you died last time, but if you die another time before recovering your items, you’ll lose them forever.
In addition to combat, Voltage High Society also features a variety of puzzles and challenges that you have to solve in order to progress through the game. These puzzles range from simple logic puzzles where you need to collect some items or open some doors, to more complex challenges involving beating tough enemies or conquering situations that require careful planning and strategy to solve.
Conclusion
Overall, Voltage High Society is an immersive first-person Metroidvania game that offers a unique and engaging experience. Its interesting visual style helps to fully realize the game’s gritty cyberpunk world, and the gameplay offers a satisfying blend of exploration, combat, and puzzle-solving. However, the game is pretty tough and since you can only save your progress at save points found within the game, you can expect quite a challenge. If you’re a fan of the Metroidvania genre and enjoy dark cyberpunk and body horror themes, then Voltage High Society is definitely worth checking out.
Voltage High Society - Preview,
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