Redeemer: Enhanced Edition

Developed By: Sobaka Studio
Published By: Koch Media
Category: Top-Down Action
Release Date: 07.19.2019

Reedemer is a twisted, brutal action game that consists of you demolishing opponents with grizzly blows and environmental takedowns that will leave enemies as nothing more than heaps of blood. Journey through to conquest and vengeance while loving every minute of heart pounding beat ‘em up action. This title brings the gore of Mortal Kombat and melds it with the top-down action of Diablo.

You are Vasily, and you have taken up the life of a monk and have enjoyed a life of peace in a hidden away temple in the mountains. You wanted to leave your old life in the past, but like an addict, you jump right back to your old ways when the monastery is attacked by unknown assailants. You like nothing more than to rip, maim, and fight, and you do plenty of that with your reinvigorated spirit. The baddies are clearly messing with the wrong dude.

Combo-based attacks with environmental cues are going to be how you pound your way through this title. You can kick, punch, and do various parries and jumping attacks, but you also can combo all of these up to get more interesting killing blows. Charge attacks are also at your disposal, and you can use a ton of things in the environment to get the finishing shot as well. When enemies light up orange you can use what is around you to kill them off, whether that be with rocks, logs, fire, or several other interesting ways to have them meet their maker. You can also pick up weapons that have increased attack power, but can have some negative side effects as well, allowing for some strategy to your fighting, and some give and take in your combo brawling. Beyond that the game gets more gruesome, as you can disarm opponents and use their weapons against them, or even dismember them in order to gain a melee weapon. Totally brutal.

The game isn’t super deep beyond its really fun combat system. You can pick up scrolls and other items hidden throughout the maps to build of a collectible system, and you can really get into your combos and strategic fighting, but other than that you are really just running through levels causing as much chaos as possible. The game is tough here and there, especially when you have a ton of enemy types with guns shooting at you, but throughout I found the experience enjoyable, and with several levels of difficulty options you can really customize how you want things to go.

You have a few different ways you can play the game outside of the difficulty levels, as the game features three different modes. You have the single-player story mode where you learn the history behind Vasily, and play through several levels along that journey. You also have the arena mode where you have endless hordes of enemies thrown at you where you can let the body count really pile up. And from there you can pay in co-op mode where you and a friend take on this gory nightmare.

There is a decent amount of content here, and the single-player is a really good length, but unless you really just fall head over heels for the combat system you won’t find a ton of replay ability here. Arena mode is a nice addition, and playing through a second time with a friend could be fun, but this is mostly just a one shot title. No issues there for me, as the story mode is a good time, even with the story semi-lacking.

From the top-down perspective you get a lot of bang for your buck in the graphics department, as you don’t really get too close to the action to notice a lack of detail. With that said the game looks good, and the aesthetic matches the gameplay. The game is quite dark, and you will have to get used to paying through lots of dark coloration, but like I said that goes with the countless brutal deeds you are committing over and over again. My major concern with this title is the performance. There is a good bit of stuttering, and the frame rate dips fairly low throughout the playthrough. I never found it to affect the gameplay implicitly, but the visuals are clearly affected by this. It is a pretty big bummer, as the gameplay overall is fun, and the game looks good, but it just doesn’t hold up.

Overall, Redeemer was a good experience. The gameplay loop is fun and rewarding, and although the story is lacking, that isn’t really what you play a game like this for. There are a couple of nice additions to help break up the monotony with the collectible gathering, and additional modes will add to the replay potential for those who find themselves really into the combo system. However, performance issues really hurt this game, and a lack of depth in systems or story aren’t helping its case. A really good time for anyone who is into brawlers, or is looking for a pure gore-fest.