A strange cyberpunk world with rogue mechanics

May 3, 2022 12:31 GMT  ·  By

Zixu brandishes his sword, taking a chunk out of the life bars of two enemies. I follow that up with a jump and a slide, moving away so I can fire a few bullets into a guy coming at me from the other side of the screen. A mix of sword action and careful movement allows me to deal with the three guys without losing too much of my own health. I now need to find the best way to reach a crate and then prepare for another big fight.

Loopmancer is developed and published by eBrain Studio, set to launch before the end of the year. The game uses the mechanics of both the action and platformer genres while throwing in rogue-lite concepts.

Xiang Zixu is the protagonist, a capable private eye who dies only to be returned, alive and well, to his apartment, ready to investigate the same case he was working on before. He might be a detective but he is very capable both in hand-to-hand and ranged combat. As the game progresses he discovers more about both the death he is investigating and his mysterious ability to keep his memories while moving back to the start of the day after death.

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When it comes to gameplay, Loopmancer is pretty classic. Zixu has a double jump and a slide as enhanced movement options and gains access to a grappling move. Most of the combat is up close and personal, with judicious use of movement the key to solid victories. Use ranged attacks and specials when the situation seems dire.

When the player fails, the main character wakes up in his bedroom, ready to restart the loop. Armed with some extra knowledge and extra resources. It’s a solid take on the rogue-lite concept but without any big innovation to wow players.

Loopmancer looks very pretty, with good ideas when it comes to the world design and the characters. The game manages to easily create a familiar cyberpunk city and some cool action sequences. The biggest issue with the presentation are the voice work, which is a little forced, and the soundtrack, which needs to add more immersion.

Conclusion

Loopmancer has some solid ideas and promises quite a bit of content, more than 100 weapons, 30 enemy types, and a variety of cyberpunk-tinged locations. The game has a lot of systems but understands that the focus needs to be on the combat and the loop mechanics.

The narrative, which feels very familiar, needs to deliver some engaging twists and turns to keep players occupied, especially those who might not fall in love with the mechanics immediately. But Loopmancer is an interesting project that can set a standard for its genre.

Preview code provided by the publisher.

Loopmancer screenshots (16 Images)

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