Experience a high-octane, arcade-inspired FPS in Project Downfall.
For a video game to stand out in today’s sea of new releases, it can do several things. Do a marketing stunt, show some truly compelling gameplay footage, or grab inspiration from the earlier work that it took from and make it its own. Project Downfall is the latest in the old-school shooter genre to successfully create a synergy between the old and the new.
Developed by MGP Studios & Solid9 Studio and published by RedDeerGames, the first thing you will notice as you boot up Project Downfall is the striking visual style that, albeit pixelated, works well within the confines of its graphical art style and is a pleasure to look at.
Second, the slick electronic beats coming out of your headphones as recommended to be used by the game itself. And third, how the game drops you straight into the action, letting you roam around your flat and access the main menu from there.
You wake up in your modern apartment, with your significant other in bed, worried about your health. With an obvious John Wick-like face, your character is a cog in the machine and has been working in a corporation and living a somewhat comfy life.
As it happens, there is something shady lurking in the backdrop of this narrative. Your character has a bottled-up hatred that needs to get out every night by exacting justice on low-life criminals disrupting your perfect lifestyle. Or so it seems.
There is an inherent hallucinatory factor permeating the whole experience from the beginning. One of the main gameplay elements is popping pills that slow down time and let you dispatch your enemies with ease.
You can start a direct conversation with your cerebral cortex, people who walk about in the street respond to you in cryptic ways, and you are informed that there was an incident in which your character suffered severe head trauma that may be revealed depending on your gameplay choices.
Project Downfall wears its influences on its sleeve. There are tinges of other games like the acclaimed Hotline Miami. The game namedrops Doom as soon as you start your first combat encounter. And movie influences like the Keanu Reeves-led action-packed movie are as clear as day to see. This is not to say as a criticism, as it is refreshing for developers to be as straightforward as it is in this case.
As the previously mentioned video games it took as inspiration, Project Downfall also plays in a very particular way. The distinctive old-school vibe is present in its design all the way to even give you a grade at the end of each level. If you shoot someone in the crotch, it’s called a nut shot. And the camera movement is a bit too stiff at times.
The combat in Project Downfall is unforgiving. You can be easily killed in about three shots and return to the mission’s beginning. At the start of each stage, all the previous weapons and tools you acquired are lost in the transition, and you are again left to your own devices.
There is a difficulty setting between casual and normal before choosing each level but your life bar stays the same. You cannot regenerate or grab health packs; your only hope to progress is to kill everyone on each stage as efficiently as you can without dying in the process. Rinse and repeat.
You can slide, pop pills, and do a superkick attack to end enemies with one shot or even use the environment to your advantage and be clever with your takedowns and not head on straight into the action with your abilities and blind luck, which can be another way to go. This gameplay loop is satisfying when you avoid incoming projectiles in slow motion, throw your ammo-less gun at an enemy, kill him, and take his firearm to mow down other foes heading your way.
With the help of its unique soundtrack, Project Downfall can feel like a power trip, just like the art it is trying to emulate, at each level, from rooftops to dingy clubs with pumping hard techno and neon-filled bars. But it can also be its strongest issue. As strict as the game is with its unorthodox approach.
Its punishing repetition to eliminate foes in different scenarios can lend to frustration as there are so few ways to approach it and no leveling system to feel stronger in any way than grabbing what’s at your reach and hoping for the best. Due to the Switch hardware limitations, the long loading times after failing the same level several times are disheartening.
An underlying theme of Project Downfall, as difficult as it may be to find in its hectic execution, is the context where the story is developed. Settled in the near future in the city of Crimson Tide, the first mega-city of a new & reformed Europe it promises to give all its citizens an aspiring life with great medical benefits. As it happens with fictional political superpowers, when their reign is left unfettered, corporations step in and demand civilians mandatory medications to keep them subdued.
Your character, who by all means lives a comfortable life and should have nothing to complain about, has seen this evil lurking in the background of society, and, with a socialist intent and a violent manner, your vigilante days to exact justice. Not exactly an original story, but certainly one that you can understand in the process of searching for the truth.
The narrative is shrouded in mystery and lets you get to your conclusions, but you can get a slight grasp on it as you talk with NPCs on your way to each level. Collectibles are scattered throughout the map to help you piece more clearly what your characters’ intentions are and know more about them.
Project Downfall directly states that your actions have consequences, and there are multiple endings. But the way the game goes about not explaining what is going on or how to achieve each different ending is either annoying or enticing, depending on what type of gamer you are.
The number of accessibility options is staggering and goes beyond the usual features. Aim, Strafe and Pickup assist, head bobbing, and the type of crosshair you would like to use are all adjustable to personalize your playthrough. Every element in the HUD can too be removed entirely.
There are a handful of visual looks directly taken from classic TV outputs such as the CRT and grid scanlines and the Amiga or Commodore 64 camera effects for those wanting to go that extra mile for that nostalgic feel when playing Project Downfall. It is possible to play without any of these filters, but considering the vibe the game is decidedly going for, it suits the overall aesthetic just right.
Project Downfall is oozing with personality the moment you pick up and play the title. From the stylish creative direction to the in-your-face gory combat, passing through the original and clever writing in the tips while the game loads. Though the final execution is rough in its approach, it is hard not to appreciate the effort put into it as a brutal FPS.
