One thing that’s common now is to base your game on SCP, especially if you want mystery, and instantly want to set the tone of what’s to come. Critical Shift leans into SCP something fierce, being the game that feels the most similar—without actually being set in that universe. At least, that’s the impression I’m getting from the three missions in the playtest.
Dead base
In Critical Shift, you play as an SCP-like response team, which essentially is some kind of private mercenary team on clean-up duty. A research base on Antarctica has stopped responding to radio calls, which mandates a fast response with a team that can handle whatever strange things the mission will throw at them. Unsurprisingly, bizarre research has been conducted here, throwing the base into complete disarray. A classic tale of science overreach, and if nothing else, it’s right up my alley.
We got mutants
Critical Shift is played in turn-based combat style, akin to the modern Xcom games. From the current presentation in the playtest, it seems you will only have a small team available to do the investigation with. This means no perma-death. If someone gets “killed” they are just knocked out for the duration of the encounter. However, to balance this, healing is rare and hard to come by, at least going by the three early missions. So, you better be on your best when facing mutants and other hellish creatures this facility will spawn.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t sold entirely on the turn-based combat. It just feels very basic and a tad janky, animation-wise at this stage. But that can always be improved, because when it comes to atmosphere and the idea behind the mechanics that make the combat feel frantic—they got that down already. For example, all the zombie mutants become riled up when shot, meaning, they get a free move. This translates to a pretty dynamic battlefield, as you can’t just sit quietly behind cover in the corner and pop monsters, while munching down a Snickers.
What I think they got in the first try, though, is the exploration. It’s in real time, with you directly controlling one member of the team with the WASD keys. It works remarkably well and it’s spooky wandering the corridors of the abandoned research station, especially with the bonus of reading notes from scientists doing stuff they shouldn’t have. Very moody, which also plays into the scavenging nature of your survival here, as you will be low on resources fairly quickly. Let’s just say: the SCP equivalent in this world is on a very strict budget!
Conclusion
The story, setting and the exploration are good already, but where I feel it stumbles is the combat. To be fair, it’s an important segment, since it’s the main gameplay we are talking about here. It needs a lot more flair, because as it is now, it just feels weak, unpolished and not very satisfying visually. But this is only a playtest, so I assume there is time left to improve things. Otherwise, Critical Shift shows potential for the future, so make sure to add it to your wishlist!
Thanks for reading!
– Thomas
