In 2010, Enslaved Odyssey to the West made its entrance onto the gaming scene. It wasn’t the most challenging game out there, nor did it bring with it a defining gameplay mechanic, but Enslaved had something that made it stand out: the heart showcased by its characters and engaging story. Just like the recent Black Myth: Wukong, it takes inspiration from Chinese tale Journey to the West, and it’s a story that explores the themes of fear, loss, cooperation, and the changing nature of relationships, which is made all the better as central characters Monkey, Trip, and Pigsy interact with each other so well.

Revisiting Enslaved Odyssey to the West 14 years after its release, and the last time I played it, made me consider whether I’d been seeing the game through rose-tinted glasses. If we really want to be reductive, Enslaved Odyssey to the West is an escort mission spread out over eight hours. At the start of the game, Monkey and Trip, who do not know each other, escape from a slaver’s airship, crashing down into the ruins of our civilisation. The name of Enslaved comes from the very literal enslaving of Monkey by Trip. While Monkey is out cold, Trip crowns him with a slaver headpiece, which allows her to give him commands. It also links the two, so if Trip dies, Monkey dies. Trip is out in the real wider world for the first time, and in her first interaction with Monkey, she saw a musclebound man chasing and shouting at her.

Trip doesn’t enslave Monkey to use him as a tool, but to guarantee her own safety as she finds herself in the company of a man who could quite easily cause her serious harm. She doesn’t know his intentions, and this is the only way she feels that she can be safe. Of course, Monkey is unhappy with the situation but soon accepts his fate and works with Trip to get her home. The story doesn’t follow a typical master and slave theme though. In most situations, Monkey is in charge and takes control, often having to order Trip around to move to places or carry out tasks. There are times Trip makes requests, but they are given as general instructions and not orders.

Despite, the name and the situation, both Monkey and Trip learn that the only way they can survive the world is through cooperation and partnership. The fall of our civilisation is not outright explained, as it happened a couple of hundred years ago, and neither of the two main characters are sure. What we can surmise from all of the mechs running around is that these robots were used in war and either turned on humans or were programmed to turn on them, which led to the majority of humanity being killed while some survivors created smaller enclaves or roamed alone, trying to survive in a world where danger lurked.

It is these dangers that the two navigate, Monkey through combat and Trip through her technical knowledge. She is the one Monkey relies on to operate controls and cause distractions, as well as upgrade his gear, while she relies on Monkey to keep her safe from the mechs that attack. They both later come to rely on Pigsy, who enjoyably looks like a pig and acts like a pig as well, to help them. Pigsy has his own goals but is happy to lend his services, though not without almost getting Monkey killed on purpose and hitting on Trip, who at this point has just found her father dead. Pigsy is portrayed as unlikeable, but at the end of the game he makes a big sacrifice for the others. In his standalone DLC, again Pigsy comes across as an idiot and braggart, but enjoys some character growth as he learns that he had what he needed by his side all that time.

Returning to the combat, and it is very basic compared to the games that have followed in the last 14 years. Enemies attack in small groups, with Monkey wielding a staff that can stun and destroy enemies through melee attacks, or firing plasma. There are a few enemy types and most are easy to take down, and the majority of the boss fights, while entertaining and set in interesting arenas, are quite repetitive as well. Even navigation is straightforward, with climbing points literally glowing and really not possible to miss at all taking away any challenge of finding your way. The camera is janky too at times, moving so focus on enemies is lost, letting them disappear off screen and attack from range. Yet, none of this takes away from the game’s charm. The world and the characters are in some way relatable, each going through their own development and growth. Monkey from a gruff loner to someone who stands up and fights for those by his side, Trip from a scared, lost, and unsure person to having more confidence in her abilities to be able to survive the world.

The final showdown at Pyramid also poses an ethical question: what is the nature of real life? We find that those who have been captured have not been enslaved but placed in a simulation to live lives from the old world, instead of having to survive in the harsh reality of its ruins. Monkey glimpses this world and calls it beautiful, but Trip destroys it all before asking if what she has done is right? We will never know as there is no sequel coming, but a big part of it would have been the fallout from Pyramid’s destruction. You suddenly have hundreds of people yanked from a reality where they had families and friends, and shoved back into the harsh fallen world. This could lead to mass mental trauma and PTSD as people grieve those they have lost, and may no longer be capable of surviving. However, it can also be argued that these people were enslaved to an idea that no longer existed and needed to be pulled out so they could build a new world.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is still worth a playthrough now, both for those who played it way back, and for those who have never experienced it. You will come away from the game having enjoyed yourself and a bit let down that plans for a sequel were cancelled.

This morning is yet another where we have woken up to the news that the far right continues to riot across the UK, and it is anxiety inducing. For the first time in my 35 years of life, I feel, like many other, unsettled in the country we call home. Disinformation, dishonesty, and dishonourable acts have led to the violent disorder perpetrated by a loud, violent, minority, and it is time that there is a reckoning against all of this.

Growing up, I was told by my family members who were born here in the 60s and 70s, of the violence they faced due to groups such as the National Front, and after decades of hard work to stamp this prejudice out and make our society more equal and equitable, it seems that we are sliding back to those dark times. To see the reports of the far-right and – let’s not beat around the bush here – of racists co-opting a tragedy as an excuse to attack anyone who is not white is disgusting and rage inducing. But we did not get here in a vacuum.

For years, we have seen traditional media, social media, and algorithm-led platforms pushing far-right figures to the fore on a regular basis. This is despite warnings from individuals and groups that doing so emboldens these figures and spreads their message. Challenging them in the social media space does not work, especially if some of those spaces are owned by those that agree with such views. I point to the traditional media groups, both broadcast and newspapers, that have have barely challenged far right talking points, and instead used them to validate their own messages instead. We have seen headlines from the likes of the Daily Mail and The Sun constantly attack those from non-white and non-Christian backgrounds, fuelling hate.  Even the likes of the BBC have not helped in this matter, platforming Nigel Farage a record 32 times on Question Time under the pretence of providing balanced opinions, while ITV featured him in I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, which might have made him seem more affable to some.

All of this has led to massive changes to our society, most significantly propelling us toward Brexit, and now in the most recent General Election, to Reform snatching 14% of the vote, and attracting members of the far-right to it in the process. Even now, reporting on the riots is still being framed as protest across the media landscape, conflating legitimate protest with actual violent disorder and thuggery. Every single reporter and editor in our media should have a frank and open discussion on how they report on issues that affect people from minority backgrounds, and how their reporting over the years has fuelled what has now happened, instead of acting surprised at the result. Will it happen? That is unlikely.

Our politicians have not helped either. Over the last 14 years, all we have really had is culture wars and divisive politics. Asylum seekers have been othered by the very highest of offices, and now are under violent attack. What is worse is a lot of this rhetoric has come from people who are from minority backgrounds, pandering to the far right for a grip on power. They think that moving even further right will get them in the top jobs again. The reality is that once the far right is done with them, they will be discarded and grouped in with the rest of us as an other. Social media is also to blame, allowing constant disinformation to spread faster than the truth and featuring algorithms that push far-right content. On my own Facebook feed I am constantly shown posts from such groups even though I am not a member of any of them, nor do I want to see them. Social media companies need to be held to account and disinformation needs to be stamped out at the source.

Reversing this trend will take a huge amount of effort, and our education system has a large role tackling the narrative that people from minority backgrounds are only recent arrivals to this country or that they are not British. The British Empire lasted hundreds of years and saw people from all over move across it. The first Indian MP elected to the UK Parliament was Dadabhai Naoroji in 1892, something that is not taught in schools. Britain has been quick to show pride that it was the leader in abolishing slavery, while not giving credence to folks like Ottobah Cugoano, Mary Prince, Olaudah Equiano, and Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, all of whom are Black Britons that lived during the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Our education system skips over Empire, ignoring the hard truths that at one stage in this country’s history there was a huge dark period that saw millions suffer, while a few benefited.

We have to remember that the far-right is loud and often violent, but it is a minority. That lesson needs to especially be learned by those that platform them regularly. Even though they are a minority, the far right has to be guarded against and pushed back against over the long term. This morning I signed up as a member to ROTA – Race on the Agenda and Amnesty International Anti Racism Network, to better educate myself and to get involved in ways to counter the racism that perpetuates across our society. I would ask that, if you are tired of racism rearing its head again and again, you do the same.

A final thing in case any disinformation is spread by the far-right about me. My family settled in the UK 70 years ago. I was born and raised here. I work full time. I come from a Punjabi Sikh background. I am British.

Sins of a Solar Empire 2 will be available on Steam from August 15th, Stardock Games has announced. The game was originally an Epic Games Store exclusive, having released in October 2022. The Steam base version will be priced at $39.99 and the Premium Edition will be $79.99. The Premium edition of Sins of a Solar Empire 2 includes the base game, first Content Pass (4 DLC: 1 small, 1 medium, and 2 expansion level) and the Sins of a Solar Empire II soundtrack.

“It’s been amazing to see how hyped fans are for the release of Sins of a Solar Empire II on Steam,” said Brian Clair, Director of Publishing at Stardock Entertainment. “We have seen so many people who were fans of the original Sins, and Sins: Rebellion, sharing their excitement for this long-awaited sequel. Sins of a Solar Empire II will deliver epic galactic warfare and strategy to new players on Steam, and our existing players on Epic Games Store, as they will be continually supported with new content and updates. We can’t wait to share more with you and celebrate the launch of Sins of a Solar Empire II on August 15!”

Sins of a Solar Empire 2 contains three playable races which are Advent, Vasari, and TEC. Planets also follow their orbital paths which makes the maps dynamic and makes players have to change tactics on the fly. There are also minor factions dotted around that can be influenced and become allies. Capital ships can have a lot of augmentations to change the tide of battle, and within battles lasers and rockets can be deflected by shields. There is also a mod browser that allows players to easily install various mods.

Source: Press Release

The shooter-MOBA hybrid that is Predecessor is moving from open beta to a full release on August 20th, Omeda Studios has confirmed. The idea for Predecessor game from the fall of Epic Games’ own MOBA, Paragon, building upon the ideas that were present in that game. Predecessor moved into open beta in March this year, with over a million people playing it.

During the open beta phase, Omeda Studios added Ranked mode, Brawl mode, and the two new heroes Terra and Aurora. There have also been balance fixes along with new skins added too. Predecessor has 35 playable characters each with their own abilities and skills. The game has also been developed in Unreal Engine 5, and supports cross-platform play. Skins can be purchased in the game using in game currency too. The key details are below.

• Truly Unique Gameplay – With the core of a MOBA but the mechanics of a third-person shooter/brawler, Predecessor offers a visceral experience that other MOBAs lack, while rewarding teamwork and strategy in a way many shooters overlook.
• Over 35 playable characters – Predecessor’s deep character roster contains over 30 unique Heroes with distinct play styles and abilities. 
• The Only Unreal Engine 5 MOBA – Created in Unreal Engine 5, Predecessor is the only MOBA to be developed in Unreal’s latest engine. This new state-of-the-art game engine produces high-resolution and high-fidelity graphics for current and previous gen consoles. 
• Play with Friends, No Matter Where They Are – Predecessor was developed with both console and PC gamers in mind with cross-play functionality so friends can play together regardless of their platform.
• Earnable In-Game Content – Predecessor features a ton of rewards, including custom skins, for players to earn or purchase with in-game currency. 

Source: Press Release

Ahead of its launch on August 7th, 11 bit Studios has announced some DLC for its creature saving exploration game Creatures of Ava. This DLC has been made with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation charity, and it will contain cosmetic backpack trinkets for the price of $2.99. All of the net proceeds from the DLC will be donated to the charity. The DLC will also be part of the Creatures of Ava Digital Deluxe Edition.

In Creatures of Ava, players take on the role of Vic who, along with her companion Tabitha, has crash landed on the planet Ava. The creatures on this planet are under threat from a danger known as The Withering, threatening all life on Ava. The gameplay consists of exploring four different biomes, solving puzzles, documenting creatures and saving them too. To help save these creatures, Vic learns musical melodies from the inhabitants of the planet, called the Naam, to tame the animals.

Creatures of Ava has been co-written by Rhianna Pratchett, and explores the themes of preservation, empathy, and making sacrifices. Creatures of Ava will be available from August 7th on PC and Xbox Series X|S.

Source: Press Release

Obsidian Entertainment’s action RPG Avowed will no longer be released in 2024, Microsoft has confirmed. Instead, the game has been pushed back to February 18th, 2025. The short reason given for the new release date is primarily due to the number of big games coming out in the second half of 2024. Instead, Microsoft has seemingly targeted a date which will be relatively quiet, allowing Avowed to get more attention.

Avowed takes us back to the Living Lands, a mysterious islands in the fantasy world of Eora, which it shares with Obsidian’s previous Pillars of Eternity games. However, where those games were both top-down CRPGs and part of the genre’s revival over the past decade, Avowed will shift back to one of Obsidian’s areas of expertise: first person action RPG adventuring. Avowed is not a fully open world game, but has several large open areas that you can explore. In that regard it might be comparable to one of Obsidian’s other acclaimed hits, The Outer Worlds. In the game, you’ll encounter NPCs who can join your party and accompany you on your quest, with the option to have two companions at your side. As an envoy of the Aedyr Empire, players are tasked with investigating a spiritual plague that endangers the world. Throughout the player journey, there will be opportunities to wield the power to either save or doom the world, utilising a combination of magical abilities, melee combat, and firearms.

When Avowed releases, it will be available day one on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.

Source: Microsoft

It seems out of nowhere THQ Nordic and Gunfire Games have confirmed that a Darksiders game is in development, but outside of a teaser we do not know whether this is Darksiders 4, another spin off, a prequel, or a remake. You can see the teaser below, which gives very little away but it is sure to excite Darksiders fans.

The only clue given is the tagline, which is “Be Prepared to Ride Again.” That could point to either a sequel to the original Darksiders, carrying on from the final scene which saw the other Horsemen coming to join War. It also could allude to a remake of the first game, which did already get a remastered version when it was re-released as Darksiders Warmastered Edition back in 2016. It could be another game entirely, starring one of the other Horsemen. Darksiders II had Death as the main character, Darksiders III had Fury, and Darksiders Genesis saw War and Strife as the playable characters. Ideally, this will be Darksiders 4 which will see the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse working together.

UPDATE: At the very end of the trailer you can see the words “Originally developed by Vigil Games” which does suggest this is yet another remake or remaster of Darksiders 1 or 2, or both.

Darksiders Genesis Review 

Darksiders Genesis was the last Darksiders game to release, launching in 2019. In our review, Dom said, “Despite the fundamental changes to the series’ viewpoint, Darksiders Genesis feels like a true Darksiders game, and banishes any memory of the lacklustre third entry.”

That third lacklustre entry, Darksiders III, got a 7/10 in our review. Thomas said, “Darksiders III, while more limited in scope than its predecessor, provides a tighter, more deliberate experience that elaborates on the lore we’ve seen so far. The smaller world of Darksiders 3 may disappoint some fans of the previous game, but this feels like a reboot of the series. Poor PC performance, a lack of side-objectives and some unimaginative world-design point to a game with ambitions bigger than its budget, but Darksiders III is a fun and challenging experience that kept me engaged across the length of its story.”

Source: YouTube

Bungie has announced it is laying off 220 staff, approximately 17% of its workforce, across all levels of the company including leadership roles. Pete Parsons, CEO of Bungie, has released a long statement for the reasons why 220 will be losing their jobs at the development studio. This includes the economic downturn of recent years, and costs relating to Destiny 2 and Marathon exceeding the financial limits of the company.

Pete Parsons has also confirmed that Bungie will become more integrated into Sony Interactive Entertainment, with 12% of roles being moved over to Sony. In addition, Bungie is spinning off a yet unnamed project into PlayStation Studios with the establishment of a new studio to continue work on the project. The full statement can be read below.

This morning, I’m sharing with all of you some of the most difficult changes we’ve ever had to make as a studio. Due to rising costs of development and industry shifts as well as enduring economic conditions, it has become clear that we need to make substantial changes to our cost structure and focus development efforts entirely on Destiny and Marathon.  

That means beginning today, 220 of our roles will be eliminated, representing roughly 17% of our studio’s workforce.   

These actions will affect every level of the company, including most of our executive and senior leader roles.     

Today is a difficult and painful day, especially for our departing colleagues, all of which have made important and valuable contributions to Bungie. Our goal is to support them with the utmost care and respect. For everyone affected by this job reduction, we will be offering a generous exit package, including severance, bonus and health coverage.  

I realize all of this is hard news, especially following the success we have seen with The Final Shape. But as we’ve navigated the broader economic realities over the last year, and after exhausting all other mitigation options, this has become a necessary decision to refocus our studio and our business with more realistic goals and viable financials. 

We are committing to two other major changes today that we believe will support our focus, leverage Sony’s strengths, and create new opportunities for Bungie talent.   

First, we are deepening our integration with Sony Interactive Entertainment, working to integrate 155 of our roles, roughly 12%, into SIE over the next few quarters. SIE has worked tirelessly with us to identify roles for as many of our people as possible, enabling us together to save a great deal of talent that would otherwise have been affected by the reduction in force.     

Second, we are working with PlayStation Studios leadership to spin out one of our incubation projects – an action game set in a brand-new science-fantasy universe – to form a new studio within PlayStation Studios to continue its promising development.   

This will be a time of tremendous change for our studio.  

Let’s unpack how we ended up in this position; it’s important to understand how we got here. 

For over five years, it has been our goal to ship games in three enduring, global franchises. To realize that ambition, we set up several incubation projects, each seeded with senior development leaders from our existing teams. We eventually realized that this model stretched our talent too thin, too quickly.  It also forced our studio support structures to scale to a larger level than we could realistically support, given our two primary products in development – Destiny and Marathon.  

Additionally, in 2023, our rapid expansion ran headlong into a broad economic slowdown, a sharp downturn in the games industry, our quality miss with Destiny 2: Lightfall, and the need to give both The Final Shape and Marathon the time needed to ensure both projects deliver at the quality our players expect and deserve. We were overly ambitious, our financial safety margins were subsequently exceeded, and we began running in the red. 

After this new trajectory became clear, we knew we had to change our course and speed, and we did everything we could to avoid today’s outcome. Even with exhaustive efforts undertaken across our leadership and product teams to resolve our financial challenges, these steps were simply not enough.   

As a result, today we must say goodbye to incredible talent, colleagues, and friends. 

This will be a challenging time at Bungie, and we’ll need to help our team navigate these changes in the weeks and months ahead. This will be a hard week, and we know that our team will need time to process, to ask questions, and to absorb this news. Today, and over the next several weeks, we will host team meetings and town halls, team breakout sessions, and private, individual sessions to ensure we are keeping our communication open and transparent.  

Bungie will continue to make great games. We still have over 850 team members building Destiny and Marathon, and we will continue to build amazing experiences that exceed our players’ expectations.    

There will be a time to talk about our goals and projects, but today is not that day. Today, our focus is on supporting our people.  

-pete 

Source: Bungie

Grinding Gear Games has posted a small update about the Path of Exile PS5 native client, that the studio confirmed it was developing a few weeks ago. The short version is that the native client is being treated as a new title by Sony, so it has to go through the certification process once again before being approved.

In its statement, Grinding Gear Games said, “During our GGG Live broadcast a couple of weeks ago, we mentioned working on a native Path of Exile client for PlayStation 5. In this news post we’d like to give you a small update regarding this and when to expect the client to go live. The PlayStation 5 native client is treated as a new title submission on PlayStation 5. It gets all new PlayStation 5 services integrations like party and trophies. This means that we needed to rework some of those systems compared to the PlayStation 4 client and certify them.

At this moment, the game client itself is finished, but we still need to make some adjustments to satisfy the certification requirements. However, these are minor and should not take long.This also means that the PlayStation 5 client gets a new set of trophies (which are identical to PlayStation 4 trophies) and those will be unlocked automatically when you login to the game.We expect to finish certification within the next few weeks. Thanks for your patience!”

Source: Grinding Gear Games

SEGA has dropped a music video for Sonic X Shadow Generations, giving us a remix of Kingdom Valley Act 1. The music has been remixed by Audissi Studios. Kingdom Valley first appeared in Sonic The Hedgehog 06, but has not been seen since, though has been referenced in Sonic Generations. You can check out the Sonic X Shadow Generations Kingdom Valley Act 1 remix below.

Sonic X Shadow Generations is promising two very distinct experiences, you’ll be able to play as Shadow the Hedgehog in a new story campaign that features brand new powers for the Ultimate Life Form. Then there’s a remaster of 2011’s Sonic Generations which saw modern and classic Sonic teaming up for a mixture of 2D and 3D stages.

The game will be released on October 25th, though those who pre-order the Digital Deluxe edition will get three days early access to play it from October 22nd. The digital deluxe edition of Sonic X Shadow Generations will include another level for Shadow, which will be released in the winter, as well as skill points and the digital soundtrack and artbook. Sonic X Shadow Generations will be available on  PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch and PC.

Source: Press Release

Sometimes a game doesn’t need an engrossing story or compelling main characters. Sometimes, you just want to go from virtual arena to virtual arena and take out enemies with an assortment of weapons, tools and abilities. This is what Deadlink offers. It is a roguelike first-person shooter set in a cyberpunk world where corporations are more powerful than governments, and have the violent means to hold onto that power. You are a brain in a jar that can be transferred to different combat shells, using their skills in a VR setting to test their capabilities against those corpo assets.

From the off, you can see Deadlink has a lot of depth to it. You’ll be repeating runs to earn experience and points, allowing you to unlock new skills and abilities while making progress across levels to unlock the other three ‘shells’ to shove your brain into. The default Soldier shell is not all it’s cracked up to be, and while it suits the first area it is the least fun to use. It comes equipped with a shotgun and rocket launcher, while the abilities include a rappel that can hook onto surfaces and enemies, and a Scrambler that marks and staggers foes. The Hunter shell is more entertaining to use, coming equipped with a Hand Cannon and Arc Cannon, as well as the translocator ability, which swaps your position with a normal enemy as well as marking and stunning them. The next shell is the Decoy which leaves behind a hologram that enemies target while you stay invisible for a bit, but it’s far from being the most fun to use.

That title goes to the Engineer, which comes equipped with a Gauss automatic rifle and a grenade launcher. The Engineer’s deeply enjoyable abilities include being able to deploy a turret, and use a wormlink that can link to enemies marking and incapacitating them. Finally, there’s the Juggernaut, armed with a sawed-off shotgun and a flak cannon, with a Graviton Punch ability which can destroy some enemies in one hit, and Stray Redirector which makes the shell invulnerable for a bit, but sacrifices movement speed. While I did experiment with all the shells, it was Engineer I kept going back to, though Hunter, Juggernaut, and Soldier all offered something different to enjoy.

The combat shells are just one small part of what Deadlink offers. Once you’ve selected your shell, you’ll eventually have three modes open up. The Campaign challenges you to move through four stages, each made up of rooms and with a boss waiting at the end. Time Attack offers courses that will test your reactions, and there’s the Extant Existence mode which is an unlimited wave mode, where you try to survive against enemies for as long as possible. Unlike many Roguelikes, the rooms themselves are set so you can learn enemy spawn patterns, but the challenge will always be different due to your implants. Implants and room transitions is where the Roguelike elements of Deadlink come in.

Deadlink’s implant system is the anchor of the Roguelike, making  you consider their strategies on every run. As you progress through each arena you may get the chance to equip an implant, or make adjustments to weapons and the shell. These can be anything from adding fire or toxic damage to your gun, making your abilities more powerful, or improving the amount of health and shield you have. You won’t know what implant will be offered so you really are coming up with your approach on the fly. The implants themselves have different tiers, and need different amounts of power, which you can see in the equip screen. Legendary implants require the most power as they offer the best advantages, for example, providing a combat drone to assist.

The power management is easy to figure out, as rows on menu show how much battery power is needed for a slot to be used. Furthermore, implants are split into active and passive. Active implants demand action being taken by you, like activating an ability, or breaking the C-balls that are floating around the arena, while passive implants are always on in the background. There are dozens of implants to find and unlock, with more being made available as you level up. I have to say, my best run came from having a majority of passive implants, as then I could just focus more on running and gunning.

The levelling up system has its own depth with upgrades available for individual shells, as well as general upgrades that improve health, shields, unlock new tiers of weapon mods, upgrades, and more permanent buffs or abilities, such as the defibrillator which will revive you once on a run. Some upgrades require experience points to unlock, while others require Turing Tokens, with the better ones requiring both. Experience is earned through playing the levels, while Turing Tokens can be found as one of the offers at the end of an arena, or through defeating bosses.

All of these in-depth systems of implants and levelling feed into the main experience. Deadlink only has four overall stages, split into combat arenas, but with the challenge you will not get past the first two, Tora and Watts, without significant experience and upgrades. The action is very fast paced, and you are almost always moving to avoid incoming attacks while firing off your own, but it does start to feel a bit repetitive as you go through the same levels trying to move further. There are no surprises waiting for you in the initial runs most of the time, though occasionally you will need to survive for 45 seconds, which isn’t a huge challenge, or break corrupt C-Balls. To unlock the higher difficulties you also need to complete runs on the lower difficulty, which does give something to aim for but also risks you burning out.