Redeemer: Enhanced Edition Review
Release date: July 19th, 2019
Developer: Sobaka Studio
Platforms: PSN, XBL, Steam, and Switch(Reviewed)
Price: $30 ($15 on Steam right now)
Redeemer was originally released on PCs in 2017. The Enhanced Edition has made its way to consoles, including the Switch. Let’s see if the top down action game/brawler can set itself apart from similar games of the genre.
There is not very much to the story. Players are a former soldier, named Vasily who has turned to becoming a monk in a remote monastery. Bad guys attack and slaughter everyone and now you have to seek revenge. Sounds like the plot of a good 80s movie.
The game has some interesting bits to it. I felt at one time Redeemer was trying to be like Dead Nation where the odds are stacked against players, and there is a bit of stealth in it almost like Hotline Miami. The brutal combat also reminded me of Hotline Miami without the great soundtrack and vibrant colors. Players can also participate in some light loot gathering, as this serves the purpose of giving the protagonist better weapons and working to unlock more combat skills. Most of these skills include doing more damage, new attacks and having melee and firearms last longer.
Players don't have to be stealthy; you can engage at will. The combat is built around a light combo system that includes powered up attacks. Enemies can be finished off with environmental attacks such as impalement or burning them alive. Players can also just beat enemies to death. There are some fun weapons, hammers, poles, knives, batons, and there are guns, shotguns, assault rifles, pistols, etc. All of the guns have limited ammo and all of the weapons breakdown.
Vasily is just as capable of using his fists or spinning kicks to dispatch enemies as with weapons. I found the ranged weapons were best saved for the enemies in later stages which were aggressive and harder to kill. While Vasily will be killing humans a fair amount of time there are much more powerful enemies lurking in the next few levels.
The game can be played co-op, if one desires. Apparently it's easier this way. I thought the controls were nice and tight with combat. Vasily can dodge and unleashed combos. Ranged weapons are used like a twin stick shooter.
There is an arcade mode which just has players taking on waves of enemies but it doesn't add much to the overall game. The game is unfortunately pretty short. My other major complaint was that I got lost a few times since the level design can be odd. I also found when the action got heavy the framerate suffered some. Overall it's a fun game with some flaws. There isn't much substance to Redeemer Enhanced Edition but there should be enough to keep some fans busy, although a game like Hotline Miami or Dead Nation are far superior choice with more polish. Big thanks for the developer for letting us review this game.
Final Score
Pros:
Combat is interesting
Easy to play
Cons
Framerate
Not enough to do
Dull story