Void Bastards

Genre: First-Person Shooter / Roguelike

Players: 1

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Review:

Void Bastards is a First-Person Shooter with strong Roguelike elements, where players take the role of a successive series of prison inmates press-ganged into service on a corporate ship, required to board various derelict spacecraft to acquire supplies, a task that the residents of those spacecraft are… visibly displeased with.

The presentation in Void Bastards is great, with a distinctive 3D cel-shaded look accented by menus designed to look as though the game is a comic book. While this mostly looks great, the Nintendo Switch version of the game definitely suffers from slowdown at times. It’s not horrible, but it is noticeable.

The striking visuals are wonderfully accented by a dark sense of humor, highlighting the corporatocracy’s complete lack of concern for the well-being of its prisoner “clients”. This is exemplified by the game’s excellent voice acting, particularly by your ship’s computer, voiced by The Stanley Parable’s superb Kevan Brighting.

Beyond the voice acting, Void Bastards features some excellent sound design, with enemies mulling about alerting you to their presence both with their footsteps and their mumbling comments, as well as responding to you when they see you or you start attacking them. This is all backed by a subdued soundtrack that emphasizes the claustrophobic spaces and the constant danger you’re in.

There’s a reason for that paranoia, too. For better or worse, the odds are constantly against you in Void Bastards. Your enemies are numerous (and sometimes far overpowered), your bullets are limited, performing some tasks requires the use of credits which are also in limited supply, you constantly have a timer ticking down in the form of your oxygen meter… not only will you die quite a lot in this game, you’ll be struggling to make any progress at all at times. This is a game that encourages players to pick their battles, and sometimes perhaps skip a salvage operation altogether for being far too dangerous.

Because of this, Void Bastards will undoubtedly be a divisive game. Either you will be thrilled by the oppressive environments and life-or-death decision-making, or you’ll feel stifled by the limitations this game forces on you. I can’t say either take on this game is wrong, but hopefully that will tell you whether or not this game is for you. In other words, this game is only for those who want a truly challenging Roguelike First-Person Shooter where you need to conserve bullets and make smart decisions about where to go and where not to go. If that doesn’t appeal to you, skip this one.

tl;dr – Void Bastards is a First-Person Shooter and Roguelike where players board derelict spacecraft to acquire supplies while fighting off the residents of those spacecraft. This game’s tough difficulty, oppressive environments and limited supplies will mean this won’t be a game for everyone. However, if that sort of challenge appeals to you, you may want to check this out.

Grade: C+

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