The story begins like this: you are Morgan Lee, a prisoner sentenced to 1300 years in one of the worst prisons in the galaxy. Of course, as is usually the case, you are innocent. The sadistic creature Volkov, a worse version of Jabba the Hutt, offers you freedom, but with one condition: you must participate - and win, in a brutal TV show called The Last Ticket, where prisoners fight for the ultimate prize, a ticket to freedom.
The goal is to reach the top of the tower, and along the way, you will be faced with hordes of other prisoners whose only desire is to tear you apart alive. The fights are randomly generated, so you never know what awaits you once the doors close behind you.
You have three types of attacks to choose from; regular, strong, and spin attack, and by combining them, you can perform devastating combo attacks.
You will use a combination of fists, various melee weapons, and a whole arsenal of firearms. If you thought you could stroll through the levels destroying enemies with a shotgun or a rocket launcher, think again. Ammunition is very scarce, and pipes, knives, fluorescent lamps, and traffic signs (yes, that’s a weapon too) will most likely break before you finish the level, so you need to think carefully about when to use which weapon.
To increase your chances of survival, you have access to early cybernetic implants that provide fantastic bonuses: from electric attacks, teleportation, sending drones, to summoning mystical fighters to assist you in battle. The combinations are limitless.
Each implant belongs to a specific class, and if you combine implants from the same class, you receive additional bonuses. This practically forces you to think about what to choose, whether you want the one that sounds the best or the one that provides good bonuses in combination.
The best thing about the implants is that each one you use changes your character's appearance, making you look more and more like the Terminator or RoboCop.
There is also a huge skill tree that you can enhance with points you earn from victories in battle. And the possibilities are countless. You can increase health, unlock additional special and combo attacks, add bonuses to your shield, and much, much more.
The first few levels are quite easy, but when you reach the first boss, there's a good chance you'll get torn apart like old newspapers. You'll die countless times, and perhaps the worst thing about dying is that you start all the way from the beginning, without weapons, without implants. But at least you keep all the unlocked skills and the money you can use to buy new ones, thus increasing your chances.
Graphically, the game is nowhere near the level of the Switch 2, on which I played it. Even on the original Switch, it doesn't look that great. I'm not talking about performance drops, but it simply feels outdated. The locations are quite uninspired and monotonous, and the animations could be better polished. The camera will sometimes get stuck at the worst moment, just so the enemy can massacre you with a chainsaw while you can't see them.
The sound effects aren't that bad, but the voice acting is among the worst I've heard in a while.
On the other hand, the fights are brutal, bloody, explosive; if you learn the enemy's movements, the game will reward you with quick progress. If you rush headlong into battle, expect a painful landing. No strategy will allow you to stroll through the levels, especially when you reach the bosses, whose attacks vary greatly from one another, so you'll have to learn to adapt.
The sheer amount of available weapons, both melee and ranged, countless combinations of cybernetic implants, and a huge skill tree give this game great replay value and numerous fun hours.
If you've ever wanted to know what it would be like to slowly turn into a cyborg, you'll find out. And if you're a fan of beat'em up and roguelite games, you'll enjoy it.
A copy of the game for review purposes was provided by the publisher Sobaka Studio.
