REVIEW: Redemption: Saints And Sinners

REVIEW: Redemption: Saints And Sinners

First Person Puzzlers are a fascinating mix of action and adventure and there’s no denying that in recent years there’s been a hefty stream of quality titles related to this subgenre.The Talos Principle and A Story About My Uncle, stand out in my eyes. Had plenty of fun with them. It’s unfortunate that the game I’m reviewing today can’t hold a candle to those two. I know what you’re thinking. How can I compare a couple of AA types (that also cost several times more than Redemption) with the purely indie title created by a dev team focusing on cheap games? Shame on me for abiding to some quality standards

Author: UN0W3N

Steam: Released

Developer: Black Lime Studio

Publisher: Black Lime Studio

Genre: First Person Puzzler

Release Date: 18th of  November, 2016

Type: Single-player

First Person Puzzlers are a fascinating mix of action and adventure and there’s no denying that in recent years there’s been a hefty stream of quality titles related to this subgenre.The Talos Principle and A Story About My Uncle, stand out in my eyes. Had plenty of fun with them. It’s unfortunate that the game I’m reviewing today can’t hold a candle to those two. I know what you’re thinking. How can I compare a couple of AA types (that also cost several times more than Redemption) with the purely indie title created by a dev team focusing on cheap games? Shame on me for abiding to some quality standards!

I’ve said it before and I shall repeat it over here. A price tag cannot be the final label of a video game, indie or not. There are countless examples of affordable games that offer a far smoother experience than a Triple A title can present on Launch Day. Innovation and creativity aren’t restricted by a budget, if the developer’s truly commited to his project. Quite ironically given the title, Redemption: Saints And Sinners cannot redeem itself enough for me to recommend it, even as a cheap distraction offering Cards and Achievements on the side.

As far as gameplay’s concerned, the puzzle sections really are the only ones truly worth mentioning. Simple puzzles at that, with no challenge at all, not even a timer to coerce you into thinking that you can actually fail the game. It’s far too easy and even the broken combat system barely represents more than just a flimsy hindrance between a puzzle and the next one. They all relate to flipping switches, coordinating laser beams, avoiding the same beams and the occasional classic rearranging of pieces to form an image-kind of puzzle. Lots of fun! You know what’s not funny though? Having platforming sections with NO JUMPING controls or even implementation. You literally cannot jump in this game and that is a feature that will cause quite a lot of frustration when having to pass ever-shifting tiles that if misstepped, will cause you to fall into a pit and get fried by lasers. I never thought I’d meet a game which implements platform sections while eschewing the jumping control altogether.

Combat is so bad, that it becomes good. I’m just kidding. Almost like that B-movie you keep watching for a cheap laugh. Enemy AI is limited to mindlessly charging in a beeline and wack their melee weapons at you until you die. You are equally limited in fighting them with a sidearm (or later on a shotgun or something, but who would have the patience to actually reach the late game levels?) and aiming at their heads since they seem like bullet sponges otherwise. Your foes are some kind of poorly textured zombies that seem to come in two “flavors”. Yellow jump suit burn victim and his buddy, the bikini-clad pale guy. I bet the developer had more than a few laughs coming up with these two. Even more so after giving them their distinct sounds which forced me to dial down the volume, from all the sharp screaming through a microphone, combined with a repetitive metal song in the background.

Though it doesn’t seem to state this after booting the game, I’m certain that Redemption uses Unity Engine assets. Had my fair share of Steam games using those digital resources and most of them are quite alright and fun to play in the end. If the game didn’t look half-decent, I would have rated it below 40, that’s a certainty. Alas it runs smoothly with in-game effects such as flames, soft particles and general lighting representing a saving grace to an otherwise forgettable experience. It even features a built-in frame rate sensor, though Steam Overlay’s own counter works just as fine and also has the benefit of not showing up in my screenshots.

So while the game doesn’t look particularly bad, the sounds and animations will make sure you quit with a strong impression. A negative one. My advice to you would be to either buy this when its price drops below a dollar or get it in an equally cheap bundle. Paying 3 bucks for it should be considered a sin by itself.

Strong Points

+ Unity Engine provides decent looking graphical details.
+ Interesting albeit simplistic puzzles.
+ Steam Achievements & Trading Cards.

Weak Points

– Abysmal sounds and combat mechanics/animations.
– Repetitve and liniar gameplay.
– Somehow it’s still overpriced given its lack of polish.

RATING: 45/100

Written by
Dead Parrot
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