[h1]Introduction[/h1]
Casting spells from a first person perspective. Now that’s something I haven’t played in a long time. SpellFront is the low budget version of Skyrim and Lichdom: Battlemage in this regard, but for a title that’s in Early Access and costs only a fraction of the asking price for its competitors, I think it managed to find a niche of its own. Developed by Steppe Hare Studio, the title I’m going to write about now is a new foray for its dev team. Their debut was the darkly festive Irony of Nightmare (a short and bittersweet Xmas horror game which I reviewed as well) and Mother Simulator (sort of a joke I guess, but I have no interest in that one whatsoever since I prefer to keep my gender intact). So no previous development experience would signal that SpellFront had all the right ingredients or the skilled “chefs” to assemble them. The end result is a decent shooter/platformer hybrid which reminds me of the Serious Sam franchise.
[h1]Story[/h1]
And just like in good ol’ Sam’s case, SpellFront features a storyline that’s almost as nonsensical as a Lewis Carrol novel. A nameless fantasy empire dominated by wizards and sorcerers (a magocracy, if you will) gets invaded by aliens. Yeah, we got some Ed Wood elements over here as well. Anyway, the equally anonymous protagonist is a resurrected mage which decides one day that the state of death was boring and he wants to fight back against the alien menace. On his noble quest to find the “First Sorceress”, he must first regain his earthly form. You literally recover your left hand after the Prologue, as it “grows back” in order to assist with telekinesis. More cool Jedi tricks shall be discussed in the gameplay section of my review, but for now let’s just focus on the narrative. Why is it so thin on content? Was it so hard to name the land, Absurdia and the hero of this tale, Bob the Bored Zombie or something? I don’t expect an answer though. Even if the project will depart its Early Access stage, experience taught me that few Steam games manage a narrative overhaul. SpellFront would really need one.
Most elements which resemble a story, are conveyed through graffiti that can be read across certain stone walls. How convenient! Still no crucial information about names and places, it’s just a recollection of phrases that reminded me more of bad poetry than anything else. I’m probably reading too hard into this. Spells, magic crystals and cyborgs don’t mix all that well unless it’s Star Wars and you find creative ways to integrate elements of Sci-Fi into traditional fantasy domains. SpellFront just throws robotic hordes unto stone castle ruins and dungeons, while it expects you to dispatch them without raising any questions. That won’t do, Steppe Hare Studio. No context for any element here (why is there an alien invasion in the first place and why is there no one left to defend the realm, except for an already deceased wizard?) It just feels not only random, but out of place and somewhat insulting to players expecting a genuine singleplayer experience. Even a lazy attempt at another battle royale clone, could have come up with a better story than this title!
[h1]Graphics[/h1]
Never mentioned but if I were to throw an educated guess at it, my first option would be Unreal Engine 4. A poorly rendered choice, as SpellFront’s performance was all over the place. From CTDs and texture pop-in, to massive frame rate drops (regardless of resolution) and falling through the boundries of the level design. It’s in Early Access so I can at the very least hope that some of the aforementioned issues might get sorted out. Ironically, I had far better performance in the large, outdoor levels than in the confined dungeons and sewer sections. I have no explanation for this but it was annoying enough having to dodge dozens of foes at once, I certainly didn’t need an irregular frame rate to top it off. Once they load up, the textures look crisp for the most part. You will notice that some assets have been tended by the dev team far more than others though. Particle and lighting effects are gorgeous, yet they can’t compensate for the lack of proper shadows and a level design that feels even less polished than a tech demo.
[h1]Audio[/h1]
Sounds were adequate. Nothing spectacular, but certainly passable. Drums begin beating once combat ensues. That was a nice touch which reminded me of not only Sam but also the Painkiller series. It's truly a pity that we don’t have any rock songs on SpellFront’s OST…
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
Apart from the Elder Scrolls series, only Dark Messiah Of Might & Magic managed to recreate convincing first person spellcasting. Lessons can still be learned (& applied) from games that were released a decade ago. In the proverbial shadow of those two, Lichdom: Battlemage attempted to emulate certain gameplay elements, but largely failed because of its atrocious control scheme. Fortunately, SpellFront doesn’t disappoint on this chapter. It kept things simple with the mouse peripheral used predominantly among several other keys for auxiliary spells, like creating light or pulling and pushing objects. Mouse buttons dictate the offensive spells of an elemental nature: Acid, Fire, Lightning and Frost. Unlocked in that succession and sometimes bearing a creative name, these attacks will be the real delight in what is otherwise an ocean of repetitiveness. Or clones, since the enemy variety has not been implemented in SpellFront. It’s an alien concept and the pun is fully intended.
You’ll be melting, burning, zapping and freezing the same cyborgs over and over again. They look the same, sound the same and sadly, think in the same brain dead manner. For an allegedly advanced species that dominated the “primitive” fantasy land you inhabit, the invaders’ use of tactics only involves rushing towards your position. Not taking cover or ever attempting to dodge your spells. A meatgrinder awaits them, as some foes are indeed organic and bare a striking resemblance to dinosaurs, for example. The Serious Sam-esque element comes in the form of having to deal with multiple types of enemies at once, within somewhat confined spaces. It cranks up the difficulty scale (which can’t be selected from a menu, by the way) and can offer some short term entertainment. I was far more intrigued by the platforming sections in SpellFront, than the actual battles involving the titular spells.
For one, they’re much harder than the fights which always make you feel overpowered against the majority of enemies. It remains a mystery why they prefer to engage in melee combat instead of ranged warfare with the allegedy advanced technology that helped them annihilate all opposition. As a platformer, SpellFront doesn’t fail to deliver. It features plenty of trap and puzzle diversity and it makes good use of the spells as well. Using telekinesis reminded me of the trials in both Jedi Knight II and Jedi Academy. Too bad that no lightsaber is offered as reward at the ending of SpellFront’s levels. Speaking of which, the game is divided into three chapters and a prologue. Boss fights should be expected, but they’re no real concern since even giant enemies (sadly no crabs this time around) follow predictable movement and attack patterns. Avoiding traps will be the main event as far as challenge is concerned but it’s also pretty upsetting that the best spells (frost and lightning) are unlocked fairly late in the “story”.
[h1]Verdict, Summary & Rating are below in the Comment Section.[/h1]
