Demon House: FPS (XBLIG): "Something Borrowed, Something New ..."

Photonic Games brings to the indie marketplace an FPS (First Person Shooter) title that seems to incorporate familiar gameplay features which have been used in well known FPS games throughout the years. At the heart of Demon House: FPS you'll find vague yet noticeable similarities to games like 'BioShock', 'Doom', and even 'Quake' giving the game a retrospective atmosphere. The story, or plot at the core of this game is unique however, and seems to be derived from the scfi/fantasy genre of steam-punk fiction using necromancy as it's driving factor. As the game's protagonist, an unnamed scientist you (the gamer) find that it is your duty to put an end to one of the greatest necromancers the world has ever seen. Your target, the evil scientist of the story has willingly unlocked the secrets of life, and death and has used his knowledge to raise a soul driven army of mechanical soldiers. Seeing this as a potential hazard the powers that be have summoned you to dispatch the creator, and his unholy creations through classic weapon based combat. As you venture into the domain of the dead you'll find plenty of aggressive oddities that are hellbent on your demise. With your steam-punk weaponry in hand your task is simple. Destroy the creations, set the souls free, and put a stop to the madness. Are you up for the challenge?

Beginning with an simple indie-like title screen, and an short animated 3D intro the story of Demon House: FPS is laid out for the gamer in terms a simpleton could understand. After selecting "Campaign" you will find yourself taking on the role of a gun wielding scientist in a lab coat. Standing at the front gate of a mansion that looks as if it were somewhat inspired by black & white mad scientist movies of old your journey into madness begins. When you first step foot past the mansion doors you'll immediately be greeted by robots who have in some way been fused with the souls of the dead. These unearthly creatures will try to stop your progress at all costs by firing various forms of plasma shots at you. As you can likely imagine the mansion that these robotic monstrosities inhabit features tiered levels, hidden rooms, and a wide variety of creepy features. Navigating through the labyrinth is surprisingly easy though. Your main threat comes in the form of your mechanical adversaries. Luckily for you though you are well equipped to handle the situation with guns fitting of such a scientific era.

At your disposal you have a plasma handgun with an infinite supply of ammunition as well as a plasma rifle that fires energy beams. Both weapons are upgradeable through BioShock-like vending machines located within the mansion's halls. Whenever you kill the creatures within the haunted residence you will find that they drop money/currency in the form of holographic minus signs. Collecting these items as well as health paks, and ammo can be done simply by walking over them. Once you accumulate enough money/currency you can visit one of the before mentioned upgrade machines, and purchase things like health paks, ammo, new weapons (Blaster, Crossbow), weapon upgrades, ammo upgrades, and even health upgrades. Doing so though requires that you have met certain requirements, and that you have made it so far into the game. For example you can upgrade your MK handgun in the first part of the mansion, but upgrading the plasma rifle, or Blaster is not allowed. Even the crossbow cannot be bought until later on into the game.

Like any tried, and true FPS title certain guns are more effective on certain creatures. I found that the plasma rifle can kill things fairly quickly, and has a steady beam that makes hitting targets easier. The shotgun, or Blaster on the other hand is powerful, but only holds a certain amount of shots before it needs to be reloaded making it a poor choice in some situations. I should also mention that you also have, and can purchase/pick up grenades that are used in a way similar to that of "Call of Duty" titles. Using grenades can get you out of a pinch if you happen to find yourself surrounded by multiple creatures. As I mentioned before all of the guns are upgradeable. Being able to upgrade will allow you to dispatch the more difficult enemies as they come into play. As such upgrades are area specific, and only become available when you need them.

As a human scientist you do have a certain amount of life which is displayed at the top of the screen along with the ammo, and the grenade amounts. Keeping a watch on these levels will allow for a smarter, and longer lived playthrough of the game. The dropped, and purchasable health, ammo, and grenade refills/power-ups can be used to your advantage. Even with limitations on health, and weapon items you still are able to continue your progress at saved checkpoints assuming you've made it to them. Once you make it to a checkpoint within the game it will say so with typed dialogue that appears on the middle of the screen. The "Campaign" that I have been describing can be played on four different difficulty settings ranging from 'Easy' to 'Insane'. You are rewarded for various tasks during your playthrough via trophies that appear as you've completed certain objectives. While these "trophies" are not legitimate Xbox 360 achievements they still give you a goal to shoot for. You can find the list of available trophies as well as descriptions on how to earn them within the games menus. These trophies are not only "Campaign" exclusive though as the game does offer a secondary mode of play called 'Arena'.

'Arena' could be best described as the 'Horde' mode of 'Gears of War 3'. You are given a selection of options in this mode including the number of players (1/2 splitscreen), the number of lives as well as some other options I've currently forgotten. Once these options are set you are placed in the middle of a cemetery that contains one of the upgrade vending machines, and four crypts which enemies spawn from. Your goal is to survive wave after wave of enemies as they spawn using your available weapons. Like the "Campaign" you can collect health, money, and weapon power-ups from fallen foes making the task at not so impossible. These items, aside from the money can also be obtained via the upgrade machine after each wave is complete. In order to complete a wave in 'Arena' you must eliminate all the creatures within the area. At the top display on your screen you will see the wave number that you are currently on, the number of enemies on the map, and your current score. The same ammo, and health display that is used in "Campaign" is also present in "Arena". You will die if you run out of health, and if you die enough it's game over for you.

In closing I think Photonic Games did a decent job at making their FPS game. While it wasn't as well presented as that of games like 'Call of Duty', 'BioShock', or 'Gears of War' it still had a solid presentation that held up for the most part. I will say though that at times there were graphic collision issues such as passing through opening doors in an awkward manner as well as the occasional random gun reloading sequence that seemed to happen without me triggering it. The character's, and creature's movements were also a little lacking in quality as was the whole FPS setup. While the targeting was functional enough it was still very loose making the game seem less unprofessional. I do realize that the game offered some controller setup options, but I'm not sure if this included movement sensitivity alterations. If it does then I tip my hat to the developer for including such an option.

Looking at the game as a whole I think you get quite a deal considering the two available modes of play. While the story is honestly plain Jane it's still somewhat interesting to play through. I think the 'Arena' mode is this indie title's strong point though. If the developer had made the game a fully multiplayer experience with possible online gameplay I think it would have been much better though. Perhaps if the arenas in 'Arena' were larger, and players could battle it out in some sort of multiplayer deathmatches, or a mode similar to that of 'Gears of War's 'Horde' mode then we might have a gem worthy of a 400 msp price tag. The developer can of course take that suggestion as he sees fit. In closing my final verdict is that this game is okay for the asking price. While it's not really spectacular I think the developer did a good enough job to warrant at least a try of the demo.