Livelock: Three is Company
Jul. 4, 2016Livelock: Three is Company
Cooperative gaming experiences are some of the most memorable for gamers. Gearing up with friends for some online objectives into the wee hours of the night are one of the indelible joys of gaming. Through the years, the top down shooter has been one of the best pick up and play formats so it only makes sense to combine the elements of the format with an engaging cooperative experience. Enter Livelock, a new cooperative top down shooter where you can play with friends until dawn breaks and it’s time for work. We had the recent pleasure of getting some hands on time with the game and have some impressions to share.
Livelock is a cooperative top-down shooter where you and up to two others must work together to break the cycle of infinite war between machines. Years ago, Earth was destroyed by a gamma ray. Although scientists received a warning 10 years ago, the preparation for the gamma ray’s devastation wasn’t enough. The millions of human consciousness that were uploaded into the digital network survived, but became corrupted and as a result, they have separated into 3 rogue robot fractions. Each of these fractions has created their own agenda for survival and will destroy anyone that stands in their way. The players have been uploaded into a mechanical chassis by an ally known as SATCOM, who wants to see humanity united, and your new mech body is armed with a gigantic arsenal. As one of “The Few” remaining Capital Intellects, you will need quick reactions and decision-making to overcome the chaos.
Players will choose one of 3 classes, Hex, Vanguard or Catalyst and do battle against the waves of foes. Each class is a carefully crafted archetype with their own specific weaponry and skills. Hex focuses on DPS and marksmanship, Vanguard is the tanky class that makes use of fists and up close contact and Catalyst provides a variety of tactical support functions for the team.
With our classes selected, we launched into the mission and found ourselves right in the middle of mayhem. The game ischaotic in all the right ways, with explosions and gunfire filling up the entire screen. It was a bit disorienting at first but once we got our bearings we were able to keep focus of our characters.
Once we began progressing through the mission, the roles really began to define themselves and the skills per class were sensible and useful. Every class has its interesting wrinkles and makes each one feelfun to play. So often support and tank roles get a little dull but Livelock does a good job keeping everyone engaged.
Death is handled smartly with players able to spawn back in via an orbital pod which they can position anywhere on the map. It allows the players the ability to quickly get back in the game with the flexibility of tactical choice on where a player needs to be.
We pushed our way into an indoor facility and mowed our way through the enemy forces until we came to a formidable crustacean like machine, who was the boss of the mission. Not simply a bullet sponge, the boss was a tactical presentation that caused us to position accordingly. The Vanguard had his moment of glory here and struck a blow for tanks everywhere by landing a perfectly placed skill for a critical hit, downing the boss for good. A pod appeared in the level and we stepped in, ready to be transported to our next level of mayhem. The demo unfortunately ended here, aswe could have spent the entire day playing.
We left the demo thoroughly entertained with our experience with Livelock. It has the kind of gameplay that is easy to learn yet stays interesting and fun for many hours as you experiment with all of the different combinations of skills and weapons and tactics. A 19.99 USD launch price makes it an easy choice for a group of friends looking to burn some midnight oil and lose some next day work productivity.
Emergence
Editor at Fextralife. I look for the substantial in gaming and I try to connect video games to the emotions and stories they elicit. I love all things culture and history and have an odd fondness for the planet Jupiter. I think my dogs are pretty awesome too.
Melee oriented, interesting, AND OP. I like him already
E somehow 1 hit punched the boss to death. Dem beastly fists…
If you hold his punch ability he just run punches all over the place. Pretty entertaining.
I’m going to enjoy playing as the Vanguard. heavy Warrior classes are my specialty. Also, I like his character. Strong and savage on the battlefield, but thoughtful and philosophical.
It’s fun, addicting, cheap and easy to pick up and play. Not much more you can ask from a game.
Looking forward to this game. I love top down action games, especially with classes.
