Deadlink Review | TheXboxHub
Despite spending perhaps too much time grinding away at the peak of the Call of Duty multiplayer era, seeking out those victories in iconic battle royale titles like Apex Legends and Warzone, and firmly putting the original Titanfall as one of my favourite games of all time, there’s one aspect of the FPS genre I still can’t get to grips with.
I am talking about the super-duper fast, reaction-speed testing, weapon-switching experiences found within the newest DOOM titles, where fluid movement and tailoring your weapon choices towards certain enemies is the aim of the game.
However, by throwing roguelike elements into the mix, offering up a brand-new incentive to try and get into this niche of FPS titles, perhaps Deadlink is the game with which to buck that personal trend of mine. And whilst the neon colours, attack indicators and flashy combat still occasionally becomes too overstimulating for its own good, stick with this brand-new roguelike FPS and you’ll discover one of the most rewarding gameplay experiences of 2024.
What do Cyberpunk 2077 and Deadlink have in common? Well, it’s all in the plot of both games, with a particular penchant for the word ‘flatline’, and a passion for taking down those corrupt mega-corps that plague a dingy, corrupt near-future. You will play as a Shell, a mechanical super-soldier that knows one thing, and one thing only. That is of course to kill, kill, kill, using some of the most bombastic weapons that your ‘employers’ – the CSA – have at their disposal.
As with the majority of roguelikes, the plot takes a bit of a backseat compared to the gameplay on offer, and you’ll get bitesize chunks of lore from your handlers when you talk to them back at base. You’ll also meet a cast of recurring characters throughout your travels across the key zones that Deadlink plays out in, each of them having their own backstory to be uncovered. The helpful addition of an extensive Codex – detailing the origins of the corps you are taking down, descriptions of certain enemy types, and the zones you’ll fight through – helps to add some flesh to the bones. I also appreciated that within the exposition dumps that your handlers like to make, there’s some additional tips regarding how best to take down certain enemies, if you pay close attention.
Overall, I doubt many are going to be particularly put off by what is a pretty conventional ‘stick it to the man’ story, when it is the gameplay within that is the true star of the show.
When it comes to gameplay, and first things first you’ll need to pick your Shell. This is the mechanical soldier that you’ll take into battle, and Deadlink offers multiple different Shells to try out. Unlocked as you progress further through the game, each Shell comes with a primary weapon with infinite ammo, a powerful secondary weapon that is replenished through combat, two magical abilities, and a grenade. The key to keeping your secondary weapon ammo topped up is killing foes that are Marked. Marking enemies occurs through use of your abilities and grenades, and is a fundamental element to survival.
Deadlink plays out as a series of short encounters, each between 30-60 seconds long, with the encounter completed as soon as you take down each enemy within. Making use of double-jumps, dashes, C-Balls (break these and pick up some ammo) and other platforms to bound around the place, you’ll need to have your movement on point if you want to survive. In short, stop moving and you die.
After completing an encounter, you’ll progress to the next via one of a few different doors, each offering a different reward. You may wish to upgrade your core stats, pick up some Credits to spend in the Shop, restore some health or, most pertinently, unlock a new Implant for your Shell. Implants are the bonus abilities that you can adapt your build around. Do you pick Implants based around Corrosive damage, and then complement this with Toxic grenades, for example? Implants have both a constant passive ability, and an active ability that is only actioned when you utilise one of your two abilities, switch weapons, or break a C-Ball.
Many would argue that a roguelike lives or dies by the progression that can be made run-to-run. Whilst hardcore rogues would ensure that nothing but your own knowledge and experience is retained between runs, the best titles hit a sweet spot between being punishingly difficult, and allowing players to make some permanent changes in order to make it a bit further through the game each time. Deadlink is certainly on the harder end of the scale; make just a few mistakes in a given encounter, and you can see your health deplete incredibly quickly. This can be helped by picking up some permanent upgrades back at base, such as increased damage, increased resistance to attacks, or even augmentations to your abilities.
The wealth of Implants is where Deadlink shines, as (and I’m fully aware how cliche this sounds) no two runs are the same. Combine the Implants with the unique talents of each Shell, and you have a game that is most satisfying when you construct a build that synergises well.
Whilst the neon-soaked streets of Deadlink’s areas do fit in well with the cyberpunk aesthetic of the game, and offer up many treats for the eyes, my biggest issue with the game is that there’s often too much to look at. Imagine having to keep up with incoming bullets, the cooldowns of your abilities, the status effects your enemies are afflicted by, which Implants are activated by which actions, and on top of this moving through the small rooms effectively, switching targets and weapons constantly – it’s enough just writing it out!
Even for someone who loves fast-paced titles where eeking out small margins is the difference between success and failure, Deadlink’s gameplay often devolves into shooting and hoping, where it instead is at its best when you can be deliberate with your shots and movement. With the gunplay being smooth like butter, and the powerful weapons at your disposal really feeling as such, enter that flow state and you’ll be grinning from ear to ear.
Another, much more minor, grievance I did encounter was the infrequent instance of getting stuck on an environmental obstacle. Once every few runs or so, my hero would get stuck on or in an obstacle, and I was forced to take a healthy dose of damage before I managed to get myself free, often by hammering as many buttons as I could. Again, when you are in that flow state and things are all looking rosy, you’d hate nothing more than for this bug to throw you off.
It doesn’t all have to be balls-to-the-wall shooting action within Deadlink, however. Should you so wish, taking a trip over to the Chronodeck allows players to take on a set of time trial speedrunning challenges. Each tailored to the abilities of the different Shells, you can achieve a bronze, silver or gold medal time by chaining together dashes, ability movements and jumps to navigate these platforming challenges. You’ll also have to get some shots off against the dummies placed within the gauntlet, should you wish to garner the best time.
The Chronodeck activities are a welcome reprieve from the core gameplay that never, ever lets up, and I’ll certainly be returning to this game mode regularly to ensure I stay as high as possible on the global leaderboards. Fans of the recently released speedrunning bonanza Neon White will most definitely have a lot of love for this secondary element of Deadlink.
What the folks over at Gruby Entertainment have created with Deadlink is a well-polished, extensive FPS/roguelike experience that I can see being an absolute time-sink for many players. There’s dozens of weapons to master, an insane amount of Implants to mix and match, allowing you to try out new builds, and all of this can be completed across multiple difficulty levels. The inclusion of a speedrunning time trial mode to act as a break from the core combat is a master-stroke, and once you do enter that flow state, swapping your weapons on the fly and keeping your ammo reserves topped-up at all times, nothing quite feels better. It’s just a shame that the occasional environmental issue can rip you out of the flow at any time, and the sheer amount of bullets and information on-screen simultaneously can make the game difficult to ‘read’ at times.
Ultimately, Deadlink couldn’t have been released on Xbox at a better time. Fans of fast-paced shooters have tons of time to kill before Doom: The Dark Ages swings around, and I can’t see a better roguelike than Deadlink releasing before Hades II launches onto console. Add these two flavours together, and you’ve got a pretty delicious meal indeed.
