Deflector

Genre: Action / Roguelike

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: Included in Action Games Bundle, along with Syndrome and Warhammer 40,000: Dakka Squadron.)

Deflector is an Action Roguelike released in early access on PC in 2022 and then given a full release in 2023 on PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Deflector is set in a futuristic world where players take the role of a test subject created by a computer system to combat a malicious organic virus.

The presentation in Deflector is decent, making use of simple and slightly abstract 3D visuals to depict the world and characters, resulting in a somewhat stylized look that works well enough here. Of particular note is the way the shining bullets of enemies can form almost hypnotic patterns onscreen, reminiscent of a Bullet Hell-style Shmup. In fact, at times the amount of activity onscreen can be a tad much for the Nintendo Switch, causing occasional slowdown (though what I encountered wasn’t so severe that it ruined the gameplay experience). These visuals are backed by an energetic soundtrack with different synthesized music styles based on your locale, though it all works pretty well for the game.

The gameplay in Deflector has players armed with a standard attack (with an alt attack depending on the weapon), a dash, a deflect move, and a gradually-charging super move, with each of these changing based on which of the unlockable character builds you opt to use from the start. As an example, the starting build has players tossing out a large boomerang, which they can deflect with their shield, and soon after starting they gain access to a sword-based character with melee attacks and a charging distance attack.

As player progress through each run, they’ll gain the ability to focus on empowering one or more of these traits – you can make an attack-focused character who delivers devastating volleys of damage with their attacks, you can focus on deflection and making your ability to counter enemy attacks more pronounced, you can enhance your dashing to have beneficial side effects, or focus on your health and defensive abilities. There’s a pretty good variety here to ensure that each run is different, and that’s even before you factor in the different playable characters and the unlockable upgrades (including permanent upgrades).

However, as the game’s title implies, deflecting enemy attacks is a major element of this game, and while you don’t have to focus on this ability when selecting upgrades, you will inevitably want to use it when facing walls of enemy gunfire. Plus, the way that many of this game’s upgrades and moves work in tandem with deflection ensures that this mechanic is highlighted and keeps this game distinct from the likes of other similar games, like Hades.

Yeah, this comparison is inevitable for any game in this genre, and sadly it’s hard to compete with Hades. And it’s probably no surprise when I say that Deflector isn’t going to threaten Hades’ dominance in this genre any time soon – the combat isn’t as fluid and enjoyable, the world and characters nowhere near as compelling, and the story simply isn’t as strong here.

However, if you can look past the “it’s not as good as Hades” comment, Deflector is nevertheless a fun entry in the genre that does enough to differentiate itself, and in particular the way it leans into elements of the Bullet Hell genre and this game’s own deflection mechanic make this well worth checking out for those who enjoy the genre.

tl;dr – Deflector is an Action Roguelike where players take the role of a test subject created to combat an organic virus. The gameplay here is solid, and this game’s use of elements of Bullet Hell Shmups, as well as its central deflection mechanic, help to set it apart from other games in the genre. That’s good, because Deflector can’t compete with the likes of Hades in terms of that game’s fluid and satisfying combat and wonderful story and characters. However, Deflector manages to be unique enough to be worth trying out despite this, especially if you’re a fan of this style of game.

Grade: B

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