Spooky, stealthy apocalypse survival game The Light Keeps Us Safe has snuck its manner out of early entry. Now you possibly can tiptoe about; keep away from imply robots; and improve your singular line of defence, a humble torch, in its full launch. It’s received a creepy new trailer to have fun, too, so you possibly can be a part of me in watching this one from afar by your fingers.
It’s a game about not being caught at midnight by homicide robots, for which a flashlight is available in fairly useful. Especially so when you possibly can improve it, and use it for all the things from beautiful pursuers to fixing puzzles. And additionally seeing quite a lot of toes in entrance of you, which you’ll have to, as a result of there’s traps and tripwires aplenty. Presumably laid by these artful robots as a result of they know people are reliant on weak, fallible issues like eyes.
The greatest change coming together with the 1.zero launch is problem sliders, which can go a way in direction of addressing fellow RPS contributor Fraser Brown’s greatest qualm with the game when he gave it his early access review: “It’s a shame that they make it so easy. Yes, [those scary robot pals] are very menacing, and yes, they are quite deadly, but they could be outsmarted by a Roomba.”
Alongside problem ranges, appropriately named builders Big Robot have tweaked the environmental procgen, which ought to make “worlds that are slightly more challenging” generally. And they’ve additionally fastened some audio bugs, which is good as a result of Fraser writes very enthusiastically about the way it sounds pretty much as good because it appears to be like and from that trailer I can think about why. Especially when it began enjoying in one other tab, all screeching robot-crows and ominous buzzing from nowhere.
Each new killer robotic emits one more nails-on-chalkboard screech that may bounce round in your head lengthy after you’ve fled from their clutches. They’re the sounds of factories and dial-up web and error messages warped and twisted and remixed inside metallic demons. Normally they’re simply grating, however right here, in moonlit swamps and forests the place there isn’t one other soul, they begin to grow to be malevolent.
…I maintain going again to these noises and the way very small and really afraid I felt, caught within the forest with no clue the place to run. I like a very good scare, and The Light Keeps Us Safe is more than pleased to oblige. And the lighting! Even although the solar has burned out, it’s a world of contrasts, with jet-black forests, poisonous inexperienced swamps, preternaturally brilliant moonbeams and lethal neon warnings.
You can buy The Light Keeps Us Safe in its 1.zero launch from Steam now, the place it’s on sale for 15% off till Thursday the 12th of September, making it £12.74/$16.99/€13.59.
Disclosure: Jim Rossignol, now of Big Robot, was a founding member of RPS as soon as upon a time.
