Enter Redacted styled as [REDACTED], a surprising twist in gaming that converts The Callisto Protocol universe from the space of The Callisto Protocol into the isometric roguelike dungeon crawler.
Redacted goes beyond the survival horror roots of its predecessor, while combining punk rock irreverence with comic book aesthetics in order to create a space in the crowded roguelike genre.
Its connection to The Callisto Protocol is interesting, but the game can’t manage the tightrope between innovation and inspiration and falls prey to the greatness of recent genre defining releases like Hades.
Redacted is a prison guard in Black Iron Prison within the confines of torment as survivors and mutated biophagous are battling over the facility’s final escape pod.
Your character fails every attempt at escape, ending up among the undead, forcing you into yet another failed attempt at escape once again as another guard.
But this setup achieves what many games struggle to deliver with stability: progressive progression across runs thanks to persistent currencies like contraband and security codes.
Based on familiar roguelike mechanics, the gameplay loop consists of four distinct zones leading in to a boss battle after each. Players face random rooms and will have to choose whether to go down paths that offer temporary buffs, or long-term upgrades.
Elemental weapon effects, augmented dodges, and a sense of progression all make up the buffs of a kind, and even the failures feel good. Initially, the game limps out of the starting blocks for a slow burn, but the speed eventually picks up with the game’s fast paced, twin stick combat.
Redacted’s combat starts unremarkably. The result is early weapons like pistols and melee tools that cheapen the thrill one might expect, and melee in particular tends to remain quite the letdown throughout the game. Buffs can bump these mechanics up a little, but they rely on randomized selection to prevent consistent enjoyment.
Ranged options get better over time, changing fights from frenzied battles into something more familiar. Defeating skeletal enemies provides unlockable weapons like dual blasters and the atom gun, injecting a powerful approach and a pleasurable feeling of strength into throughout the experience.
However, melee combat is still neglected, which makes for the continued lack of variety in encounters, despite the large enemy roster.
Combat has some spice in it through environmental interactions like kinesis like GRP abilities so you can be a bit more creative with how you dispose of the enemy. Obviously satisfying to launch your foes into vats of toxic acid, but limited by the amount of GRP that can be used.
The visual will remain stellar despite it, as halftone effects and resplendent explosions fit the bill for a nice looking visual with a vibrant comic book art style.
What sets Redacted apart is in its Rivals system, which provide each escape attempt with a competitive twist. Making these rivals — caricatures ranging from a certain version of an LARPer to a punk rock Cockney — obstacles and incentives.
To beat rivals’ players must withstand sabotages, like gas leaks, or confront them in mini boss fights. When you kill off rivals your competition in getting the escape pod is diminished, but going through the ones remaining is exciting.
The addition of the Rivals system gives each run an unexpected twist and will result in each run feeling different and unpredictable. But their dialogue and humor often hinge on shallow pop culture references that kill the narrative depth and under develop them as characters.
Unlocking progression, such as weapon upgrades and difficulty modifiers, the replay ability is encouraged through your first successful escape.
But the way to unlock the last vault (requiring 80 hidden passcodes from rivals) doesn’t seem particularly protracted. The time investment for the ultimate reward, which is basically high stakes do or die run, is not worth it anyway and leaves a fairly lackluster impression.
While Redacted’s modifiers and escalating challenges prove generous to its replay ability, the endgame is as dull as it is absent of any compelling narrative.
Conclusion
Redacted wants to bring the humor, innovative mechanics, and eye-catching art style together to offer a unique take on a roguelike.
The Rivals system is exciting, the twin stick shooting mechanics will eventually shine, but the early flaws, and repetitive endgame, fail to burn brighter than the system that allows it. For a fan of The Callisto Protocol, this spin off looks into the universe from a different angle.
Also read: Neva Review: An Artful Puzzle Platformer with Stunning Visuals
