Sublevel Zero

Cruguey (18)

Posted 8 years ago.

Sublevel Zero on Steam

It is normally priced at $14.99 USD and right now it is on sale for $12.74 USD as a special launch promotion. Considering the low price it is worth checking it out to see if you would be interested. I have having a good time with it.

This video can explain it a lot better than I can. I got the Hunter gunship and it is pretty good with the extra starting damage.

Noticed this game yesterday on Steam and decided to look more into it as it looked kinda cool. This game is much like Decent. It is a 6dof (6 degrees of freedom) type game with upcoming VR support.

Since I have only put in a few hours of play, calling this a review would be wrong. So far what I do know is this is a rogue-lite with a basic crafting system and a decent number of unlockables. The goal is to make it to the end of each level and destroy a core structure then retrieve "Flux Drive Components".

The crafting system is basically a way to combine different weapons and upgrades into better ones, it is very basic but almost necessary to help progress through each level. Once you reach the end and get the flux drive component, you can level up if you got enough EXP in the level. The level system works just like in Ziggurat and Nuclear Throne, you are given a choice of 3 random perks and you select the one that will help you the most. The perks can give some weapons more damage but less max ammo to giving your ship some hull regen when you are low. Overall the level system feels quite balanced.

There appears to be a total of 6 levels ( Sublevels 0 - 5). i have made it to Sublevel 3 and as you can imagine it gets much more difficult later in the game. The first level is basically just a tutorial. In later levels the core structures attack you directly and have drones guarding it. It can be quite difficult. Of course the enemies in each level get progressively more powerful as well, this is where crafting better weapons helps a lot.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 8 years ago.

Well, as soon as I saw it - I thought of Descent too (I remember playing that a lot ages back, the music was great on that game). I see they added the modern twist - procedural generation / crafting. My only query with procedural generation is that do the areas not look all the same after-awhile? also 6 levels sounds kind-of small - also, why if its procedural generated?

One small thing, as you seem to be steering that craft around - surely the wings would hit the walls? seeing as in the hud they appear to be sticking out a bit?

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 8 years ago.

6 levels sounds kind-of small - also, why if its procedural generated?
- Roguey

It might be nearly impossible to beat the game if it was much longer. Permadeath.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 8 years ago.

It might be nearly impossible to beat the game if it was much longer. Permadeath.
- Sinxar

Woh, thats harsh. So is there any kind-of save then? surely you dont have to beat the whole game in one sitting?

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 8 years ago.

Right now you can save and quit between levels. Devs stated there will be a bug fixing patch soon, people have requested a save and quit option during an active level but no idea if it will be added or not.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 8 years ago.

I remember awhile back GT5 had an 24 hour endurance race, where you couldnt save (it had to be done in one session). I really didnt like that idea - especially if the game is offline. I guess the developers think it could be abused, but still I think its a bad decision to make people for so long. A game should be fun after-all.

I guess a die means you lose all your progress?

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 8 years ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike

This game fits into the "Roguelite" category. Examples include The Binding of Isaac and FTL. Sublevel Zero is a Roguelite.

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 8 years ago.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 8 years ago.

You seem to like those type of games - Roguelite? as I remember you playing a dungeon style game awhile back that had permdeath too? I guess dark-souls isnt permdeath but isnt exactly easy.

The crafting seems a bit of a strange idea - does it fit well?

Orbot

Proguey (12)

Posted 8 years ago.

Sublevel Zero looks quite promising. I have never been a huge fan of Descent although I remember playing quite much with friends over a modem. There will be a new Descent game too, Descent: Underground (gameplay - Unreal Engine 4).

It is good to see Unity handling quite wide variety of different kind of games. Sublevel Zero and upcoming Descent will be available for OSX and Linux too as expected.

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 8 years ago.

Here is full run of the last level (Sublevel 5). I excluded the boss fight because it was like 15 mins long by itself and boring. I got the Arcpulse and the Gauss Cannon in this run. I was doing the achievement "environmentalist" (complete the game without using an energy weapon). Now I need to do "minimalist", complete the game without crafting anything. I don't think it will be that hard really as once an Impact Rifle drops it's pretty much over.

Now that I can consistently beat the game, i'm more experimenting with new top tier weapons and getting achievements. Still very fun.

I put the video in the OP as well.

Roguey

Trueguey (22)

Posted 8 years ago.

Beating a game for the first time is a big morale booster, I guess with threat of permanent death you could feel the whole game is impossible. I defiantly noticed the enemies are much faster than before, as they seem rather slow before. How come the boss battle lasted for so long? I guess because of its health?

Sinxar

Cruguey (18)

Posted 8 years ago.

There will be a new Descent game too, Descent: Underground.
- edqe

The alpha was released yesterday (10/22/15) on steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/360950

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