UPDATE June 2017: My original review was written when the game first hit EA over an year ago, and [b]does not reflect the current state of the game[/b]. It is my understanding that the game has now been completed and its price lowered significantly. I hope to update this review in the future, time permitting, but for now please regard my original review as an historical document only.
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Johnny Graves—The Unchosen One is a horror themed 3D top down action shooter currently in Early Access. The Early Access part is quite crucial, as what is on offer so far is pretty bare bones. Content wise there is one playable level that can be completed in some few tense minutes, and there is little reason to come back to it once you're done.
At first glance, this looks like a game in the style of classic ARPGs, but there are currently no progression mechanics that are commonly associated with RPGs here - that means there are no experience points to be gained nor leveling of any kind. Combat, however, is not mindless left clicking, but somewhat tactical, albeit simplistic in nature. The character has one conventional attack (an aimed shot from his revolver) and one special attack resembling something of a magic bullet that bounces from one enemy to the other, taking down multiple foes in succession. Aiming is done with the mouse and is completely manual, and your revolver must be reloaded every six shots. In contrast with a more traditional ARPG style of combat, you cannot shoot and move at the same time which can cause some tension. It is easy to get swamped by enemies if you are not careful, as the latter tend to spawn in groups and move in on you fast. In practice you will be running away from mobs of zombies a lot while reloading and waiting for your special attack meter to recharge so that you can take them down before they reach you. In a way, the combat is closer to Resident Evil than Diablo due to this rather basic shoot-and-run-dynamic, and because you control the character's movement directly with WASD keys. Failing a more diverse skill system, some other means of crowd control or maybe a melee option would have been welcome here. Add to this that there is no incentive to kill foes at all apart from ensuring your survival and progressing through the level. As mentioned above, enemies do not give XP when killed nor drop loot, so your best course of action is to just sneak your way around them, situation permitting. (Your guy can also jump if need be). Ammunition is unlimited, however, so the game feels far from survival horror despite the squishiness of your character.
Speaking of which, your character's health bar is tiered and will regenerate by itself up to the last tier it fell down to after receiving damage. Melee attacks by zombies will whittle you down quickly, but fireballs and the few chemical zombies you encounter can have an even more adverse effect on your well-being. The fire is courtesy of giant tree dwelling spiders that will attack you off screen and remain aggravatingly out of sight until you draw in close. Chances are you will die when you encounter these spiders for the first time, meaning you will have to restart the level from the beginning. For an admittedly short level this isn't the end of the world, but I found dying and having to go back to square one pretty annoying. Maybe a checkpoint system would have alleviated this.
The environment in general and the level design, while serviceable, weren't really noteworthy and it seemed I was missing some environmental effects even on max settings (e.g., swaying grass seen in the trailer - I ran the game on an AMD R9 290). The cemetery had a lot of open graves for example, with some of them emitting a yellow glow, but there was no reason to investigate further or explore, as there were no secrets to be found or anything else of interest there. There are some nice details and touches in the scenery, but as a whole I found the level a little bland. A bright point is the writing, however, which was witty and spirited, although the extent of it was a few lines of introductory exposition and some banter between the protagonist Johnny and a second character. I hope we will get to see much more of the writing and story as development progresses.
I received this game for free in a giveaway, but I feel that for the price that is being asked here, there could and should have been a lot more in regards to content, even in full consideration of its Early Access status. It is for this reason that I cannot in good conscience recommend this game in its current state. There are demos out there for other games that easily offer much more content and replay value than this. That said, the premise of the characters is intriguing and the writing (what little of it was on show, at least) is of a high standard, so I remain cautiously optimistic. If the developers put in the hours it is possible that this game will shine, but judging from what is on display so far it will take some considerable work to get there.
