Sometimes I take a look at my most recently played games and see that the majority of them involve killing of some kind. Whether I’m a bard dishing out devastating insults with my lute and spearing your enemies through the heart in Baldur’s Gate 3. Role-playing as Henry in Medieval Bohemia, slicing and dicing your way through Sigismund’s forces. Or fighting on various war fronts in all the FPS games I own. There is a lot of death. And I think, perhaps, it’s time I play something a little more light-hearted. Then a game like Beta Decay drops into my brain and I think “naa F that, this looks awesome!”
Beta Decay
Beta Decay is the upcoming dystopian survival RPG where mega-corporations are locked in political and economic strife, and the imminent destruction of humanity is upon us. You’re just trying to survive amidst it all. A colonized exoplanet has become the cradle of civilisation and the place you call home. Here, you can pretty much do what you want and go where you want. Build starships, take on roles such as an engineer calibrating comms servers, become the leader of a faction, and execute territory raids.
It sounds like an ambitious project, with lots to offer the players. But one of the things that initially drew my attention was, firstly, the style of it. It has that early PlayStation Metal Gear Solid vibe to it. With a similar industrialised military complex feel about the world. Secondly, it reminded me of The Forever Winter, albeit a single-player version of it. It’s oppressive, there is an ominous overtone of the inevitability of death. You look thrust in the middle of faction wars and must sneak around to try and survive.
The gameplay looks intense and visceral. Lots of blood and gore. Big weapons to wield, huge mech to fight against or fight with. I’m seriously digging what the trailers have shown of this game so far.
When can we play it?
There is a mention of a Kickstarter on the website, but no mention of when it will launch. Furthermore, the website says early access on Steam is aiming for July of this year. Although that date is obviously subject to change. There have been some closed testing sessions, which indicates that the game is coming along nicely – you can track down some gameplay on YouTube if you want to see it.
This is one game I’m really looking forward to playing. I definitely think it won’t be for everyone, especially with the stylistic choice, however, I’m a big fan of that retro look.
