I've finally gotten around to experiencing Lethal Company with friends, and I am thoroughly enjoying what I've played so far. While content is a bit on the thin side, there's a lot to unpack with what is available.
Lethal Company, for those who don't know, is a co-operative horror game made by indie developer Zeekerss. The game has genuinely frightening moments, but also genuinely hilarious ones too, sometimes at the same time. The proximity chat means it's easy to get lost and separated from the group, and not being able to communicate while dead turns your death into a mystery for the group to solve: What creature did this? And is it still around to get us?
The wide variety of enemies truly makes the game what it is. There's no worse feeling than being ambushed by a spider, and no better feeling than outsmarting a Bracken when you've been cornered, riding that high all the way to bank. Enemy design is very good, and well thought out. Nothing feels cheap, nothing feels completely unfair, if you can't get away from an enemy, it's probably a skill issue.
The moons are designed well. It takes a few runs to get the feel of them; a couple of the moons feel like they blend together a bit. Overall the outside areas are varied enough to keep things interesting from run to run, while allowing experienced players a sense of mastery with knowing where the main entrances and fire exits are located for each map.
Inside the building however, is another story. Each building draws from a limited pool of tile sets, and randomly generates a labyrinth of rooms, traps, and enemies for you to navigate, similar to how Warframe generates its maps. While it can be frustrating to wander a maze to only reach a dead end (or worse, to use up a precious key to find out on the other side of that door was just a wall), it adds to the tension and urgency of the gameplay, driving home the fact that you don't have time to sit around and collect everything, you gotta go.
This is further compounded by the quota system. There seems to be two main strategies to make it through the game: Either you sell everything at the end of the quota period, allowing for nice juicy overtime bonuses, or you save some items, scraping by the quota just enough to make the next round easier if you have unfortunate accidents.
I'm exciting to see where the game goes. The game is Early Access, so hopefully that means more content is on the horizon, and with the modding community flocking to this game, there won't be any shortage of content for weeks, months, and hopefully years to come. I highly recommend everyone try this game out, and have fun with your friends.
Lethal Company, for those who don't know, is a co-operative horror game made by indie developer Zeekerss. The game has genuinely frightening moments, but also genuinely hilarious ones too, sometimes at the same time. The proximity chat means it's easy to get lost and separated from the group, and not being able to communicate while dead turns your death into a mystery for the group to solve: What creature did this? And is it still around to get us?
The wide variety of enemies truly makes the game what it is. There's no worse feeling than being ambushed by a spider, and no better feeling than outsmarting a Bracken when you've been cornered, riding that high all the way to bank. Enemy design is very good, and well thought out. Nothing feels cheap, nothing feels completely unfair, if you can't get away from an enemy, it's probably a skill issue.
The moons are designed well. It takes a few runs to get the feel of them; a couple of the moons feel like they blend together a bit. Overall the outside areas are varied enough to keep things interesting from run to run, while allowing experienced players a sense of mastery with knowing where the main entrances and fire exits are located for each map.
Inside the building however, is another story. Each building draws from a limited pool of tile sets, and randomly generates a labyrinth of rooms, traps, and enemies for you to navigate, similar to how Warframe generates its maps. While it can be frustrating to wander a maze to only reach a dead end (or worse, to use up a precious key to find out on the other side of that door was just a wall), it adds to the tension and urgency of the gameplay, driving home the fact that you don't have time to sit around and collect everything, you gotta go.
This is further compounded by the quota system. There seems to be two main strategies to make it through the game: Either you sell everything at the end of the quota period, allowing for nice juicy overtime bonuses, or you save some items, scraping by the quota just enough to make the next round easier if you have unfortunate accidents.
I'm exciting to see where the game goes. The game is Early Access, so hopefully that means more content is on the horizon, and with the modding community flocking to this game, there won't be any shortage of content for weeks, months, and hopefully years to come. I highly recommend everyone try this game out, and have fun with your friends.