Deadlink Review - An AI Invasion Worth Turning Up For
Another day, another roguelike right? I feel like I have been saying this for years now, but it is the genre that just keeps on keeping on, with title after title landing on what seems like a daily basis. As a self-professed roguelike fan, even I am feeling weary of the constant bombardment and it is getting harder and harder to sort the chaff from the wheat. I feel like it is only luck that determines whether the latest roguelike I jump into is a good one or not. Well it seems Lady Luck was looking down on me because my latest dive into the genre saw me take on the robot FPS action of Deadlink and I had an absolute blast.
The setup here is classic video game fodder. You play the role of an AI-connected character that can inhabit and control robot avatars and command them to take down baddies with extreme prejudice. Your goal is to wipe out enemies of the (very ambiguous) goodies. That’s it, nothing more. No deep philosophical ponderings questioning the ethics of AI or excessive violence, just simple excuses for ballistic fun. Even the recurring characters scattered throughout the game are the standard stereotypes you would expect. There is gruff military guy, sensible science lady, quirky IT nerd and slightly dodgy black market dude. There are no awards coming to Deadlink for originality in its writing that’s for sure.
But none of that matters at all because it is all about the sweet FPS action being served up. Very much in the mould of Doom and other fast-paced FPS games, there is a real ebb and flow to the combat that few games can match. This is primarily due to the special abilities and their relationship with ammo and shields. Using special abilities marks enemies. Killing said enemy then releases ammo and shields into the world, allowing you to keep the murder spree going. It forces players to be aggressive, even when they are low on health, as it is the only way to get back to fighting fit condition.
Things start off slowly, with only one avatar (called combat shell) class available, but as players progress, three more are unlocked, each with two different weapons and two different special abilities. These weapons and abilities mean that each class plays quite differently from each other and learning how to use these unique attributes will take more than one run to perfect. Once each shell is mastered however, the duck and weave, the dodge and dash, the shot and bash are just divine. There is a flow to the combat that is just so addictive. Like the best games in the genre, Deadlink has that “one-more-run” urge that keeps players coming back for more.
If there was one criticism I feel could have been addressed it is the lack of variety in the levels and enemies themselves. There is very little to distinguish between the different areas in the game and the groups of enemies are all pretty much the same with some slight variations as the game goes on. It would have also been nice to have the starting level shuffle between the different areas. I have played the first area so many times now it is starting to get a little monotonous. The addictiveness of the gameplay goes a long way to negating this, but it would have been nice to have a little more variety.
It is worth mentioning that no matter how many times I faced them, the boss battles were an absolute blast. These are real skill checks for players, with each battle being tough but fair. They force players to take everything they have learned in the previous area and put it to good use. It seems to be a common problem in FPS titles that boss battles are a little underwhelming, but that isn’t the case with Deadlink. The satisfaction of taking one of these challenging opponents down for the first time is delicious.
Another thing that Deadlink gets right is player progress. The balance between difficulty and player growth is spot-on, with players improving their skills and unlocking new abilities at a perfect rate. Each run, players will feel a little stronger, have some new tools to play with and be more confident in getting further than the last attempt. There is never a period where it feels like treading water, there is always progression and this, more than anything else, is a mark of a well-designed roguelike.
What it all boils down to is Deadlink is a cracking time. The FPS action is top-notch, the combat loop satisfying and the roguelike elements are all balanced to perfection. The game is let down a little by a lack of variety in locations and enemies and the writing is hardly anything to set the world on fire, but these are small issues that are easily overlooked because the core loop is just too much fun. If you are looking for the perfect game to slot in between bigger releases, or something to dive into when you only have a spare hour or so, Deadlink fits the bill perfectly. Despite the flood, it seems there is still room in my life for more good roguelikes, hopefully, you’ll find room for this great game too.
Deadlink was reviewed on the PS5 with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
