By Tim Hodges
Conglomerate 451 is a traditional RPG with a bit of a twist. At first glance this may seem like a first-person shooter wanting to tap into the cyberpunk scene, It’s actually a strategic and challenging dungeon crawler. While it’s the movement mechanics reminded me of the game Myst,(movement is only left right forward and back panels) The gorgeous colors and heavy tactics kept me involved.
The story brings you to a neon cyberpunk future, To the city of Conglomerate. Violent corporations have taken over sector 451. The player decides how to take back the city from these overbearing corporations. By controlling operation plans, training clones, allocating resources, and researching new technologies to aid you in missions.
The most interesting thing about this game is its upgrade system that is done through the games research technology Hub, which is where the player gets to upgrade the HQ and clones after each mission.
Customizing and creating clones is a big part of gameplay. Leveling up the clones, assigning different roles, and abilities will increase the success rate of the mission and exploit the weaknesses of the enemies.
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The twist to fighting with clones is that it takes days or weeks for them to recover. Upon recovery, they will still be experiencing battle trauma which will present itself in each mission thereafter. Creating a second squad as back up is part of a good strategy.
While there is a permadeath system, clones can be produced based of the originals, starting from level one.
Combat is turn-based So you have plenty of time to arrange a tactical advantage. Engaging in combat is really rewarding. After gaining all the unlockable abilities it then becomes like clockwork. While traditional RPG’s haven’t been my scene since the early 2000’s, this really reminded me of the older 1990’s RPG PC games that really requested a lot more focus and thoughtful planning than most games today. The indie quality show’s in areas like repetitive music, questionable animation choices, and lack of creative abilities.
The story itself starts of strong but ends up been uninteresting as it proceeds, the missions left me wanting more. Especially with how well the art style presented itself.
For those Hardcore strategists out there that are really itching for an alternative to X-com that plays like Myst and has replayability of Darkest Dungeon, I would definitely give Conglomerate 451 a try. But for those looking more of a casual experience should looks elsewhere.
5/10 Rent-Wait for Steam sale