The depth to which the game design incorporates every possible function for each piece of essential equipment is one of its most impressive qualities. Not only is this ability useful for getting into areas the drone’s limited capabilities alone can’t access, firing the beacon into the air and teleporting to it at the peak of its ascent makes climbing vertical areas much faster and easier. With upgrades, the drone functions as a teleportation beacon which instantly warps Trace to its current position. One of the best examples is the remote drone, a little spider robot which can be launched to crawl through narrow spaces and collect items. Many of these items will also require upgrades along the way, and every such upgrade has a dramatic effect on the player’s ability to travel across Sudra. The Rushalki, the race of living machines slowly dying with Sudra, are monstrous, beautiful creations made all the more impressive by their 16-bit style of sprite rendering. Every part of the planet incorporates biomechanical technology in some way, and the environments pulse eerily with power. Setting Trace aside, Sudra and its inhabitants are fascinating. Ultimately, however, he feels as two-dimensional as the sprites comprising him. That’s a bummer because his position in the plot suggests a much more nuanced personality and raises a number of interesting philosophical questions regarding humanity’s potential, ambition, and morality. Initially viewing events with the kind of healthy skepticism one would expect of his scientific profession, he erodes quickly into a one-note good guy figure. Trace is character who does exhibit a change over the course of events, but it’s not a satisfying transition. The narrative of Axiom Verge functions best in its negative space, the aspects which aren’t made explicit.
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