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Syscrusher is the most fun I’ve had in an FPS all yearIt’s the system
It’s the system
I’m still drip feeding on the endless treasures fromThe Bundle. It’s healthier than bingeing, and you get more out of it that way. And that’s how I stumbled acrossSyscrusher, a tiny game about shooting robots.
It’s simple enough that to describe it would almost be a disservice. You use a pistol, shotgun, autogun (“NEATO”, as your character responds to its description), and rocket launcher to fight a linear path through the robots defending the tower of a malevolent AI. You have a slow motion power but I honestly forgot about it. There are robots, and you must run through the levels shooting them. If they shoot you too much you die. It is a game about shooting, from a first person perspective. It’s this new thing.
Poor little robots. It’s not their fault.
But the thing is, it feels fantastic. Its robots are just a little awkward and inaccurate, enough that you can be reckless and survive if you keep moving and manually ducking around. When you hit them, they’re scrambled for just a second, making even the pistol satisfying and useful. When they throw an occasional grenade, it ticks down in a panic-inducing way, and gouges great, glowing-edged holes in the level. I shot several windows just to enjoy their shattering, like it was 2002 all over again. The music is excellent and the boss fights short and simple enough to be enjoyable even to me, a boss fight hater. Hell, the final boss is one of the best fights I’ve had in a game for ages. It was absolute chaos.
I love the look of it too. It’s like an action-only cousin ofSystem Shock 2, with all those clean blue metallic rooms, chunky laser pistols, and the protocol droids turned from unsettling terrors into wonderfully disposable mooks.
Stowaway’s space station is wonderfully lit.
I couldn’t choose between screenshots so you’re getting both.
Syscrusher and Stowaway were both in the Itch Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, and are available to buy on itch.Stowawayasks for a mere dollar, andSyscrusheris name your own price.
