Loopmancer – PC Review

Genre: 3D action hack-and-slash roguelike platformer
Developer: eBrain Studio
Publisher: Xu
Release Date: July 13th, 2022
Edited by AlexKnight2005

Xiang Zixu is having what those in the Private Investigation industry call “a bad day.” He’s been called in to find a missing reporter that’s important enough to the right people to warrant a major expenditure of resources to recover (despite hints in the early going that this sort of thing had been going on for quite a while). So, it’s his job to go on a massive murder spree, starting with a street hood gang leader with whom Detective Xiang has a history— the sort of history that just about guarantees one of them will wind up face down in a pool of their own blood. Throughout the game, Det. Xiang will uncover all manner of crazy and disturbing things, all of which would be incredibly illegal today. Ah, but this is Dragon City in July of the year 2046. Make a note of that—it’ll be important later.

Loopmancer is a hub-based “rogue-lite” platformer with some light puzzle mechanics about a cyber-enhanced with a sad family tragedy in the recent past, intent on finding this reporter regardless of the cost. Given the number of critters that wind up extinguished during any given mission, it’s likely quite a sum. The game is lovingly rendered in full 3D, complete with some lovely lighting and effects. Just don’t let them distract you because one wrong step is going to hurt—a lot. Even in “story” mode, the game punishes those who haven’t got their heads on a swivel. Expect to get hammered repeatedly at higher difficulties until you’ve memorized the level layout, enemy move sets, and boss patterns. Then add in all the environmental hazards, the RPG-style status effects, and you have the crafting recipe for Det. Xiang’s custom coffin. Or do you?

Here’s the thing: Dying in this game (and you WILL die once, minimum) sends you back to a point before the beginning of the game to do the whole thing over again, except this time, you (and Xiang) will remember the things that happened in the previous loops. When a new loop starts, things get partially randomized—your initial loadout, the things available at outfitting, conversations you’ll have with your coworkers, and even the messages on the answering machine. You can change clothes (assuming you have the cores to buy them, do permanent upgrades (again, that costs cores), and so on. Also, be sure to pet the cat while you’re in your apartment. It’s a helpful, if fickle, beast that doesn’t seem interested in plotting your demise, unlike others we’ve seen in other games with cats that color. Maybe it’s getting enough entertainment watching you get squicked on the regular. One more thing: If you die early during Loop Zero (that bit at the very beginning of the game), you skip to the end of the level cutscene, so you have the context for the start of the loop one. It’s the LAST time the game will hold your hand, even in Story Mode.

I will give Loopmancer some props: It’s very pretty if a touch under-optimized. Running the game on High gave me a solid sixty frames per second, but it put the screws to my 2060 card in the process. System specs say it’ll run on a 660 (with 1060 recommended), but I’m not sure what kind of performance you’ll get even on the lowest settings with one of those. As mentioned above, Loopmancer is dome in full 3D, with a semi-realistic art style that evokes the Uncanny Valley effect in people but leaves the environment as the most stunning part of the game. If you know what you’re looking for, navigating the various levels is easy (although some variations have spots that prove to be impassable unless you have millisecond-perfect timing). Most puzzles involve switches and fast action, whilst others are more of a “spot the thing that unlocks the thing” deal. This is especially true of the hook points, which come in two flavors: Open and closed. If it’s open, you can point at it with the right stick, and you’re there. If not, there’s usually a terminal nearby that’ll open it for you. Combat plays out like you’d expect: melee, firearms, traps, and “magic” come together to make for a wide variety of options to take down the people who are incredibly motivated to end you with extreme prejudice. Then the bosses—the first one is called “The Big Guy,” and he’s a sight to behold. He’s also the very first boss and probably the biggest pain in the butt for the entire game.

As for the various bits of audio, the real standout is the variety in the voice acting. It can get a bit wooden in spots, but it’s actually quite good overall. Not as much with the sound effects. The guns have little weight and various explosives, even less so. It gets made up a bit in the taunts and chatter of the enemies, but those can get a tad distracting when a dude you just sent flying, spewing blood from the freshly-opened hole in his torso, complains about his leg. Silly things like that. Music is rare in dungeons, mostly reserved for boss fights and such. What is there is really quite good. Not going to put out the money for the soundtrack, but it works to raise the tension. In non-combat areas, the music is more subdued as a way to de-escalate and give the player’s poor heart a chance to rest before they get thrown back into the meat grinder.

I’ve already given you a bit of the story up above (as seems to be my wont), but there are a couple of things I left out: You will make choices in this game, mostly in what levels you’re going to for your daily dose of mass slaughter, and the story adapts to those choices. Will you run down clues to the reporter that needs rescuing or chase the dude that got away in the first level? The narrative shifts with your priorities, leading to one of seven possible endings. If you want to see everything the game offers, expect to run through it a few times. Note: Once you make a choice, it’s permanent for that playthrough. Going back to the beginning of the loop won’t give you a chance to change your mind. Back to the New Game option for you!

On the technical front, I had problems with the keyboard controls, and thus I strongly recommend using a controller for Loopmancer. It’s possible for super-speed typists, but everything you need fits neatly on the controller (including L3/R3), so if you have one, using it will be helpful. Beyond that, things work more or less as expected. Turning on Overkill mode can be hit-or-miss, but that may be because I didn’t spot the button combination for it. Your mileage may vary.

Is Loopmancer a bad game? No. Is it a great game? Not that, either. It’s good for what it is, with a lot of variety in the combat, but it seems a bit lacking in the fine details. If you are one of those people that enjoy Soulslike difficulty in a 2D arena, then by all means, grab it and have a blast. I take exception to impossible jumps to move to the next part of the map, but that’s just me. Who knows, maybe you’ll figure out how to get through there. Sadly, I didn’t.

Pros:

• Very pretty, especially in the environment.
• Music evokes the mood without getting intrusive.
• Combat has lots of ways to solve the problem.
• The story is solid; if a mite uninspired.

Cons:

• The sound effects are a bit weak.
• Random elements can create difficulty spikes or outright impossible situations.
• Keyboard controls are difficult to navigate quickly enough.

Lord Crocosquirrel gives Loopmancer a Drastik Measure of 7.1 out of 10.0 (71)