i-Rix Review: Trenched

Trenched is a game unlike any that's been released recently. That's because it takes so many elements from so many different games and genres that the stew that emerges from this video game broth pot is one that manages to be delicious, almost surprisingly so. It isn't without its faults, and for all the replayability in its campaign, Trenched still feels a little light in the metal loafers, but fans of Double Fine or those with a penchant for cooperative play should definitely check out this mech shooter.

STORY

In true Double Fine fashion, the story of Trenched is a ludicrously genius one. This is a post-WWI alternate reality where an alien broadcast has fried the minds of countless military personnel, save for two; Frank Woodruff Sr. and Vlad Farnsworth. These two close friends are granted near infinite intellect. Whilst Woodruff uses his smarts to develop the "Mobile Trench", huge mechanized war machines that allow disabled soldier to walk once more, Farnsworth goes insane and creates the "monovisions", creatures made of television screens and wires that are hellbent on spreading the alien broadcast to all mankind. As this signal is almost always lethal, and the monovisions themselves are able to decimate most of the world's established military, Woodruff takes it upon himself to assemble a Mobile Trench Brigade and fight back against the invading beasties.

CONTENT

Trenched is split up into three campaign theaters with about four missions (and one boss fight) per. This might not sound like much, and to be honest, I wish Trenched had a tad more raw content to dig into. What saves Trenched from being too light in the loafers, however, is the ridiculous amount of loot and customization options. Between drops, challenges, and just level-specific stuff you're picking up, there are (approx.) millions of ways to customize your given Trench. This provides huge incentive to re-play levels repeatedly in hopes that you'll get something delicious. On top of this, any level can be played together with up to three comrades, and this in turn plays back into SEPARATE challenges dealing with your "regiment" (people who you've recently played the game with). This makes the replay value of Trenched potentially great, but with only the handful of levels included in the game, most of which become unplayably easy at a certain level, the unfortunate cap on content makes this the one area that it falls somewhat short.

GAMEPLAY

Thankfully, the actual act of playing Trenched is never disappointing. Each mission (aside from some straight forward boss fights) tasks you with utilizing your customized Trenched in the defense of a given structure or group of structures. You do this by combining your Trench's given weaponry, but also by setting up defensive and support emplacements about the battlefield to stem the attacking waves of monovisions. You see, besides being a third-person Mech shooter, Trenched is also a tower-defense game. You'll set up machine guns, sniper turrets, dampening generators, and mine layers in your enemy's paths and at strategic choke-points to make sure your structures remain safe.

Of course that's easier said than done, as there are a ton of varied types of monovisions. Some shield other units. Others have armor that needs to be broken off with explosions before attacking the creature directly. Others still will come straight for YOU and try to murder your ass. This variation makes the pacing of each pitched battle fast and frantic, and you'll need to learn how to manage your scrap reserves best to maintain your defenses. Of course, variation also plays into just HOW you've customized your Trench. For example, if you're rolling an assault chassis with some heavy weapons and/or ridiculous number of guns attached, those emplacements are going to take a back seat to just good old fashioned shooting. However, you could also take an engineering chassis into the fight loaded up with all types of emplacements and control the entire battlefield with strategic prowess. Throwing in a group of three other comrades means these options get even more radical as, with a posse behind you, you can specialize in your favorite area even more. In the end, Trenched is a game about love, and there's plenty to love with the way this game plays.

PRESENTATION

Like many other games in the Double Fine lineage, Trenched's distinct world drives its presentation. Trenched might not have a ton of graphical power behind it, but it knows how to to put its best mechanical foot forward. The cartoony look belays a dark and desolate picture of a world taken over by sentient televisions. Punctuating Trenched is its voice cast, with smartly written dialog bringing even more humor to the absurdity of the whole thing. The one point of contention I have with Trenched is the lack of a consistent soundtrack. There are fitting period themes present during cutscenes and at given points, but most of the in-game stuff is silent with only the ambient sounds of gunfire and screeching monsters.

VERDICT

Trenched is a 15 dollar gem. It may not have a ton of content (least that which stays playable throughout the game's entirety), but if you have a lust for loot and a stalwart squad of soldiers willing to endure some repetition, Trenched is a game well worth the price of admissions.

Trenched gets 4 stars out of 5.

"Everything's Fine": El Shaddai Demo Impressions

For as little mainstream coverage as it's gotten, I'm surprised I both remembered and desired to play Ignition Entertainment's forthcoming hack and slash effort, El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron. Actually, scratch that. With just how amazingly distinctive the look of this game is, I couldn't help remember it from way back in E3 of 2010. Now, one year, one Giant Bomb quick look, and one XBLA download later, I got to play the game for myself (well a demo anyway).

An adaptation of "The Book of Enoch", an ancient Hebrew religious text, El Shaddai is as eclectic in subtext as it is in visual flair. Sadly, none of the story details really make it into the demo, and so if you're not well informed, you're probably going to be scratching your head at some of the stranger aspects included here. All you really need to know is you play as heaven's scribe, Enoch. He's been sent to Earth equipped with God's finest armor, weaponry, and blue jeans in a last ditch attempt to get a group or rogue angels to return to heaven. If Enoch fails, God floods Earth. Bummer.

But even if Earth teeters on the brink of oblivion, you'd never know it because of El Shaddai's amazingly abstract interpretation it puts on all its visuals. This is just a demo, but El Shaddai is undeniably a beautiful game. I really can't praise enough just how much the ethereal look of El Shaddai can sell you on its world and even on its gameplay. It's both primordial and post-modern, and it looks gorgeous.

But good looks does not a good game make. Luckily, on top of having extremely solid, fluid, and responsive hack and slash gameplay, El Shaddai's got a couple of tricks up its sleeve. Firstly, combat in El Shaddai is handled by one button. While that may seem odd for an action game, it actually works quite well with game's second mechanic, weapon trading. Enoch will wield a total of three separate weapons in El Shaddai (though only two are seen in the demo), but can only carry one at a time and switch strategically by disarming enemies or grabbing one from certain points in the level. These each have unique properties; the Arch is your standard sword, while the Gail is a long-range projectile type weapon; and when combined with varied button presses and contextual factors, the combat becomes fast and frenetic.

Shaddai's minimalist approach continues with a lack of HUD, instead opting for visual clues to tell you when Enoch needs some help. Take damage, and Enoch's armor will start to chip away. Attack to much with your holy weapon, and it'll need to be purified or exchanged for a new one. These kind of things help preserve El Shaddai's beautiful aesthetic while staying functional.

That isn't to say everything about my time with the El Shaddai demo was positive. While the one button combat functioned incredibly well, it can be a tad difficult to execute your intended actions whilst under the pressure of a tight battle situation. Also, the demo doesn't provide any kind of context or hint for a progression system. While that's not a game breaker in the least, hack and slashers certainly have a curse of falling into repetition. That could be exacerbated if Shaddai if you're not constantly moving towards new talents and abilities.

Aside from those minor concerns this extremely short, but undeniably enticing preview of a beautiful action game is one that anybody with some kind of online access needs to download. At only about 700 MB (on XBLA), it's a quick download that's well worth the time. I'm more intrigued than ever for El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, and am definitely looking to pick this up when it's released July 26th.