![]() ![]() Unlike many of its predecessors – and one of the reasons it received multiple console ports – is that is Vaporum is not “party-based” and doesn’t rely extensively on an emulated mouse cursor in combat. It’s a dated but effective approach that works in a game not particularly suited to conventional cinematics – though I wish there was a little more world-building to flesh out events beyond the tower.Īlthough many games in this sub-genre – from 1985’s The Bard’s Tale to 2017’s StarCrawlers – shift into turn-based combat when you encounter a foe, Vaporum uses the real-time approach first pioneered by 1987’s Dungeon Master and almost perfected by 2012’s Legend of Grimrock. The ominous tower beckons them in and although they know they have some connection to it, everything else is a blur.Īs you explore, a combination of written notes and scratchy audio logs spur on their memory, leading to revelatory monologues that slowly reveal the truth about their past and the present research into a mysterious substance known as “Fumium”. It’s a wonderfully contrived game world that makes little sense unless the primary purpose of the facility was to frustrate and/or kill its researchers.Įvents take place entirely within a massive steampunk tower, in the midst of a raging and stormy sea, though figuring out who the protagonist is forms part of the early mystery. You trudge around labyrinthine grid-based levels, searching for keys, solving puzzles, hunting for secret areas, avoiding hazards, and defeating enemies to progress between floors. Vaporum is a retro-inspired but infinitely more accessible modern “blobber” – think first-person dungeon-crawler, usually party-based, and with RPG elements. Clunky, archaic movement limitations and artificial grid-like environments – elements you might criticise in any other modern game – are core gameplay features and, if you buy into the nostalgic aspect, all part of the charm Wait For It: Vaporum – Hello Kitty in Fluffyland Editionīy: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.I love Vaporum and many of the classic games that inspired it, but it’s a difficult sell to newcomers. The enthralling gameplay vastly overshadows the narrative anyway.Īlso Try: the Etrian Odyssey games on 3DSīetter Than: you would assume a dungeon crawler to be If you didn’t play the original release, don’t feel like you are going to be lost with this latest release either. ![]() The voice acting is hit and miss and I wish the auto save feature happened more frequently (stepping into a bed of spikes because you didn’t see the missing floor area from the dark stage design after playing for 15 minutes is infuriating).Įven though there is a learning curve with the complicated control scheme and UI, this is a dungeon crawling expedition that is addictive even though it is more of the same. Instead, the damp metal grated flooring and dimly lit set pieces always remind the player where they are – trapped in an undersea box. ![]() The gloomy environments always convey a sense of dread but it never becomes a horror game. Lockdown’s biggest flaw is it doesn’t attempt anything new even though the dungeon crawling formula of navigating a puzzle-filled claustrophobic environment, collecting tons of loot, and attacking creepy creatures with a steampunk aesthetic is solid and unexpectantly addicting. The swipe-dance-swipe combat, map filling navigation, and dropping bricks on pressure plate puzzles all return. Lockdown is almost identical as the original release and basically feels like DLC – here is the same game just more of it. ![]()
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