The rays of the fluorescent light shine off your steel baseball bat as you stand outside the door of the room you’ve died in a few times now. You listen to the conversation behind the door between a mobster and a cop, both of them as corrupt as the other. You’ve heard it before: something about a certain street, p place you’ll have to visit later; no doubt something is going on there. Right now, you have to deal with these thugs. Again. You swallow a handful of prescription pills generously provided by Omnicare, your employer and one of the city’s many mega-corporations, designed to increase employee productivity. They make you productive alright but maybe not in ways they imagined. You feel your vision widen. The various colors and bright lights all across the room become duller, less focused. The tiny specks of dust in the air float in slow motion. It’s go time.
The door explodes off its hinges as you kick it with inhuman strength, colliding full force with a mobster who, unfortunately, happens to be in its trajectory. His body ragdolls from the sheer force of the blow, and he is sent flying backwards, his scream a far cry from the voice of the gruff mobster you heard talking just a few seconds ago. The side of your screen lights up with the word, “ENVIRONMENTAL!” As the rest of the goons are caught off guard, you swiftly dash in, going for the cop on the right with a precision rifle. He’s gotten you a few times now, but you’re prepared. If you were perceiving time properly, you might not be able to deal with him fast enough. But you aren’t. Before he has the time to load a round and fire, you throw your bat straight at his gut. Your screen lights up again. “STRIKER!” The steel shatters on contact, leaving him gasping and wheezing. While he’s stunned, you spring forward and deal an earth-shattering kick to his dome with a meaty thwack. “BRUTALITY!” The music swells, the drums and synth pounding in your ears, the soundtrack to your dance with death. His rifle flies out of his hands, and, with deft hands, you nimbly catch it. The two guys left won’t be much of a problem. You turn around, sliding back the bolt. They run toward you, lead pipes and switchblades in hand. Not a problem. You align his face with the crosshair and fire. “HEADSHOT!” You slide the bolt back again and repeat. “HEADSHOT!” Just as his body hits the floor, his pipe stops falling, your vision narrows, and the music fades out. The air is filled with an odd, eerie quiet. You awkwardly stare at the carnage you created, only for a moment. You toss your gun to the side and begin your walk back to the car. Your hands can’t stop shaking. Maybe you should lay off those pills?
Project Downfall is yet another crack at the one-hit kill genre of indie games, the best of which are often characterized by a trippy, drugged-out, synthwave aesthetic; fragile yet bad-ass protagonists who have an odd tendency to have memory-altering brain injuries; and dystopian worlds for you to carve your way through as you desperately search for answers. In that regard, Project Downfall wouldn’t seem that different from its contemporaries, whether the neon-soaked Cold War catastrophe Hotline Miami, the first real pioneer into the genre, or the hyper-focused cyberpunk dystopia of Katana Zero. Project Downfall, though, introduces many new elements that set it apart from the competition and establish it as its own unique experience, despite superficial similarities.
To properly explain though, we’re going to have to get some introductions out of the way. The one-hit kill formula is a fairly easy concept to understand. Basically, you die in one hit, or at the very least you are very fragile. To compensate, your enemies often die in one hit as well, or are as fragile as you are. There are some exceptions to this rule, like the many boss fights in Katana Zero, but, as a general rule, it stays fairly consistent. Of course, given the fact you are so fragile, you need ways to steer clear of damage. This is where the games start to differentiate themselves from each other and show their own identities.
The first thing gamers will notice about Project Downfall is its unique first-person perspective. While your surroundings are constantly visible in games like Hotline Miami and Katana Zero, meaning that you can see wherever your enemies are and act accordingly, you don’t have that luxury in Project Downfall, meaning combat is much more frantic and intense. For example, in Hotline Miami, if a mobster is coming around the corner, you can see him and react, but you have no indication of your enemies in Project Downfall, meaning you would have to react as he rounds the corner or die trying. This might sound frustrating and occasionally it can be: you’re likely to get blasted in the face randomly as you learn the game.
Of course, it would be remiss to review this game without talking about its many branching storylines and player freedom. Arguably the biggest difference between Project Downfall and its contemporaries is how it handles the story. With Hotline Miami, the story plays out the same way every single time with no player input. Katana Zero allows players to choose what to say in cut-scenes, but the story’s outcome stayed mostly the same, regardless of player choice. Linear stories aren’t necessarily bad, but Project Downfall completely shakes the genre with the addition of branching storylines and over 13 multiple endings, some wildly different from each other. In some timelines, you’re the symbol of revolution, fighting against the tyrannical government and mega-corporations plaguing the people; in others, you’re a middle-class worker by day, a self-proclaimed vigilante by night. In some, you’re even working with one of the gangs. This kind of storytelling adds a whole new dimension to the game. It engages you on a whole new level so there’s more to the game than just “How do I take out these guys as fast as possible?”
Overall, Project Downfall is not an easy game to get into. It’s abrasive, it’s violent, it’s cryptic, and it is not afraid to play rough. There will be many instances where you’re frustrated, but, when you finally conquer the level that’s been bugging you—when you finally put the pieces together—it feels like nothing else. Besides, there’s a free demo for it on Steam, so it’s worth at least checking out.
