Redacted review

Imagine a game, if you can, that combines The Callisto Protocol, Zombi, and Hades in roughly equal measure, slaps a whole heap of colour on it, then dials it all up a few notches. That’s what Redacted, (stylised as [REDACTED], natch) from Striking Distance Studios does, and it’s bloody marvellous too. And yes, you’re right in thinking that this is the same Striking Distance who put out The Callisto Protocol last year, whose apparent sudden left turn into the realms of the isometric roguelike seems as incongruous as it is welcome.

But Redacted and Callisto actually share a universe. This game is set in Black Iron Prison, the mutant-infested space jail from Striking Distance’s Dead Space-alike. That said, I wouldn’t get too excited even if you’re a big fan of that title, as the link is tenuous at best. With such a drastically different style and manner of storytelling, there’s little beyond the superficial to bridge the gap.

The influence of Zombi feels more substantial, as each run begins with you taking control of a different guard, and if you can find your corpse you’ll discover it is risen, infected, and needs putting down for a bonus. Your ultimate goal here is to survive everything Black Iron Prison and its sadistic, omnipresent Warden can throw at you, to reach the last remaining escape pod and get the hell out of Dodge.

Unfortunately, you’re not alone. Each run will see you compete against up to three prisoners, all with unique skills and personalities, who are also trying to escape. From an infected office worker to a homicidal maid and a crazed role-playing nerd, all the stereotypes are catered to, but the fact that they’re randomised keeps you on your toes.

Like Hades, you’ll fight through a series of rooms and select one of several doors at the end which denote the next reward. Sometimes that’s one of the frankly obnoxious number of different currencies used to unlock and upgrade new suits or weapons, or improve your stats and various abilities. Sometimes it’s one of several different elemental boosts like the Favours in Supergiant’s masterpiece. There are multiple elemental effects to equip, and surviving a run can often be a matter of luck, as the right boosters, or “Experiments” can utterly change how you proceed.

Bosses and mini-bosses pop up periodically, but the biggest challenge are your competing escapees. They can and will drop game-changing debuffs on you, cranking up environmental hazards such as filling a room with exploding barrels or deadly gas; or they may just mess with you by cutting the lights so you have to fight in the dark. You can also unlock and equip your own hacks to use against them when your meter is full, which can slow their progress as you move forward.

Occasionally you’ll get the chance to fight them, and this element is a little odd. You’ll stand almost no chance whatsoever against them the first time you meet them, but the more you play against them, the more of their dossiers you’ll reveal. The less redacted information there is, the weaker they’ll become, and after a certain point they become pushovers. Of course, you’ll have also levelled up your skills and stats by then, with new suits offering different passive buffs for the duration of your runs.

Where Redacted really suffers though, is in its lack of overall variety. While on the surface there’s lots to unlock, the first melee weapon is arguably the best, while once I had the shotgun I never looked back. There’s only a handful of major bosses, and the interactions with the other escapees start to grate after a while, as they don’t really alter much from run to run. They do add an element of unpredictability, but it’s short-lived, as you soon work out ways to circumvent whatever they throw at you, so it becomes more of a chore than a challenge during longer sessions.

Which is not to suggest that Redacted isn’t a great roguelike. It may borrow heavily from the Hades idea bucket, but it has enough of its own personality to stand out in an increasingly crowded genre. It also feels really good to play, with satisfying combat and some interesting elemental abilities among the Experiments. It’s not easy-going either, so even fans of the genre will be challenged at times by the sheer number of enemies and hazards. A strong core loop will keep you coming back for more, and there’s plenty of rewards for those who do give it their all to get away.