The recent closure of the legendary Monolith studio has finally put an end to any possible continuation of F.E.A.R. However, after the cool reception of the threequel by players, hopes for the return of the series were already vague, and a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then. Independent developers from Altered Orbit Studios have taken on the task of returning the unique courage inherent in the series, declaring from the very beginning that Selaco is the ideological successor to the cult classic from Monolith. However, F.E.A.R. is the key, but far from the only source of inspiration for the authors: here and there you can find game principles, an approach to building levels and visual solutions from games of the late nineties such as Shadow Warrior, Half-Life, Duke Nukem 3D and others. However, along with the colorful aesthetics and bloody combat frenzy, some archaic game design solutions have also made their way into Selaco straight from the nineties. But are they capable of spoiling the pleasure of hurricane-like shootouts?
Selaco is so faithful to the aesthetics of the era that even the enemy blood is neon.
⇡#Selaco on Fire
It is the first half of the twenty-third century, humanity is forced to explore new horizons, settling on the distant frontiers of the galaxy. One of the new homes for people has become the Selaco space station. But, alas, this place is not destined to become a paradise not on Earth – the settlement is under siege, enemy fighters clear every block of the station, and even the local hospital is no exception. It was here that the main character of the game, the captain of ACE Security named Dawn, found herself at the time of the invasion. However, the invasion of the hospital turned out to be a fatal mistake for the invaders – Dawn arranges a meat grinder for them, and, having dealt with the thugs in the hospital, rushes to save all of Selaco.
And how spectacular, bloody and adrenaline-filled this rescue will be! Selaco creates all the conditions for incredibly spectacular, intense and difficult battles. You can die in battle from just a couple of shots – you have to constantly move, frantically strafe, go around enemies and be one step ahead of the superior numbers of enemies. But once you get the hang of it (if you have experience in dynamic shooters, then this will happen very quickly), Dawn becomes a machine of non-stop destruction, tirelessly performing spectacular combat combinations. For example, he quickly reduces the distance with a group of opponents in a slide, brakes on one – he is smeared against the wall by the inertia of the collision; the second receives a charge from a shotgun that tears to shreds, and the third misses a sharp “two” and an uppercut, so powerful that it literally “blows off his mind”.
Shortly before the invasion, Dawn received a promotion to rank, a significant event for a relatively small settlement.
Thanks to this, almost every battle becomes a bright gaming event. A significant contribution to the positive impressions is made by both the responsive and pleasant shooting, and the opponents against whom we have to apply our arsenal. After all, enemy fighters are not so simple: they do not stand still waiting for a fatal fate, and do not climb under the bullets, like dummies from the release version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, but constantly try to bypass Dawn, attack her from the flank, not forgetting to talk to each other, informing colleagues about injuries, losses and battle plans. And even if yelling at the whole area about the intention to bypass someone from behind is a so-so idea from a tactical point of view, but what liveliness it adds to the shootouts.
The diversity of opponents also adds extra excitement: we are confronted by both standard shooters and reinforced soldiers with deadly plasma barrels, both maneuverable flying attack aircraft and heavy fighters with light machine guns. And in the ranks of the attackers there are combat engineers, who strengthen the squad with various technical means, snipers are found in open spaces, and robotic spiders regularly jump out in the face in narrow passages and tight ventilation. And that’s not all – the further we move along Selaco, the more varieties of enemies we will encounter on the path of our bullets. However, it is worth reducing self-confidence, because the longer the siege goes on, the more deadly the threat becomes, and we must adapt to it accordingly.
You can while away the time between hurricane battles playing pool, darts, or even disappear for half an hour into a full-fledged arcade game – the invasion can wait
⇡#Lead, dust and sparks
The invasion level in Selaco is a specific indicator of difficulty modifiers that increases as you progress through certain segments. And it is expressed not so much by larger waves of enemies and more sophisticated combinations of enemies, but by the number of possible countermeasures against Dawn. For example, with a certain invasion level, enemies get new types of grenades, or a specific weapon starts to deal more damage to us, or engineers start to place turrets, or enemies get stationary and mobile shields, or squad leaders appear on the battlefield, giving various bonuses to fighters. Such a variable and non-stop increase in difficulty no longer allows you to just recklessly roll into the thick of the enemy – the further, the more carefully you will have to think through tactics before each skirmish, and, of course, competently organize your arsenal.
In order to keep up with your enemies in firepower, you need to strengthen your guns – add damage to bullets, increase accuracy, speed up the rate of fire, or equip the weapon with a useful effect. For example, you can attach the “rollback” property to a shotgun – when killing an enemy at point-blank range, the reload time will be disabled for three seconds and you can rush from enemy to enemy without stopping, renewing the effect with accurate shots from an intimate distance. And a heavy nail gun, for example, can increase the power of melee attacks while the weapon is in the hands of Dawn.
Additional modules can be found on the levels that change or rework the principle of using the barrel – for example, allowing you to take submachine guns in both hands and create a lead storm for your enemies
To upgrade, you will need parts that can be found in different corners of Selaco. And valuable resources are also given for completing game tasks: for example, for killing a certain number of specific enemies, for collecting money and parts, for destroying wooden boxes or for collecting tablets. The latter contain more information about the structure of the world of Selaco, as well as many plot “hooks”. Although they do not provide direct answers, they kindle intrigue and increase interest in what is happening on Selaco.
You can also learn a lot about the game’s world and plot from the environment: literally every location tells its own little story, be it a multi-story futuristic hospital, a huge shopping center, an old-fashioned bar, a rooftop full of neon signs, or a cozy (until the shooting starts) promenade. And together, the details add up to a coherent (as far as early access and the presence of only the first chapter of the story allows) canvas of the Selaco universe.
Forgotten technology of the ancestors – the heroine’s reflection in the mirror
But the main value of the levels is not even the narrative – it is much more pleasant that the game world is not static. Selaco is full of interactive objects and interesting interactions with the environment: break the window of a perfume boutique – the alarm will ring, soda machines really sell soda in cans, which you can buy and drink, pizza in a box is eaten one slice at a time, and almost any object can be picked up and, for example, thrown at the enemy. And if you throw a fire extinguisher, then while the enemy is recoiling from the hit, you can shoot at the cylinder – and everything will be covered with a fire-extinguishing substance, which will impair the enemy’s view. It seems like little things, but such a scrupulous attitude to detail is rare. And the way each location reveals itself during the battle: glass shatters, a cascade of sparks turns into a crazy combat salute, and dust from hits on the walls fills the space and beautifully scatters the light from the flashes from the barrels – all this is incredibly spectacular.
Unfortunately, it is in the locations that Selaco’s main drawback lies. Between sections of hurricane action, the game offers to take a break and look for a way forward. Finding cards to open doors, explosive cylinders to destroy dilapidated walls, and batteries to power the gates – this is perceived as a necessary pause between rapid episodes of carnage, but simply looking for a way in a large branched location is rather annoying. Sometimes you rummage for twenty minutes in search of some unlit entrance to the necessary ventilation shaft, sometimes you just get lost, not understanding where to go next, and even the signs on the map are unlikely to show the way correctly. And once, having lost my way on one such level, I could not stand it and went to watch the walkthrough … to watch how a YouTuber got stuck in the same location, without a single idea of u200bu200bwhere to go next.
Of course, there is no place without references – both to cult genre classics and to relatively modern hits
Such incidents do not happen so often that you do not want to continue playing Selaco, but still such shortcomings break the feeling of flow. However, let’s not forget that the project is still in early access and is constantly being improved. The authors carefully study the feedback from players, make the necessary adjustments and regularly report on the current state of development. Very soon we will see the second chapter of the campaign, many improvements, including even more (!) impressive effects. But even now Selaco is capable of giving a dozen hours of insanely cheerful, extremely tough and unusually spectacular action.
Video: