TheHASTEdemo is an exhilarating platformer that feels fast-paced and relies on your reflexes. You have to time your jumps and landings at the right moments, creating tension as you propel yourself forward.
HASTE: Broken Worlds,so far, makes you wishSonic theHedgehogwould take some notes and keep fans of the platforming genre on their feet.
The HASTE demo is spectacular
Momentum is both your friend and enemy as you attempt to avoid obstacles at breakneck speed and move fast enough to avoid the curse throttling behind you. You’re leaping off hills and trying to land in a perfect downward position to get a speed boost of and progress the stage. If you land on the wrong side of a slope, you’ll get hurt and/or you’ll slow down. You have to pay close attention and try to survive as you avoid trees, rocks, and other obstacles like rockets from a nearby turret.
It’s almost like an endless runner, but every level ends with a portal that leads you to the next room or level. It also implements a rogue-like system similar toSlay the Spire,in which you pick the rooms you want to go to. There is a shop that lets you use in-game currency to buy upgrades like increased health or energy that propels you forward.
Additionally, there are event spaces that give you additional health or levels in which you have to survive against an onslaught of attacks. There’s also a dangerous lava level where you have to find the portal to escape within a time limit.
Because of how tough the demo was, I was only able to experience one boss throughout my time with the game. You go up against a robot called the Jumper that launches fire all across the stage, which is difficult to dodge as it rushes through the grassland area. It also creates a wave of flame which is hard to avoid, especially if you’re trying to find a hill to jump off quickly. The boss is well-designed and does challenge you as you attempt to hit its exterior pipework four times to win.
The game is procedurally generated, but with a second run of this demo, however, I began to see similar obstacles and level design appear. Hopefully, the game doesn’t get repetitive when it fully launches. If you run out of the three lives you have, you have to start from scratch with the biome you choose.
A pretty game
HASTE: Broken Worlds, despite this being aSteam Next Festdemo, is highly polished. Despite all the chaos happening on screen like pillars of flames and giant bullets being shot in the sky, the game runs at a smooth 60 frames per second. The colors really pop as you explore these vibrant levels, and when it wants to create a tense atmosphere, the darker aesthetic works well.
Unfortunately, the music lets down the game a bit. It does keep you pumped up at points with its dubstep-like soundtrack. However, it can get monotonous, especially when the chasing curse from behind tries to take you over if you’re too slow to outrun it. The music gets reverberated, making it annoying to listen to. It’s effective at causing distress, but at the same time, it would be nice to turn off this feature.
Overall,HASTE: Broken Worldshas plenty of potential, especially with the different biomes the hub worldpromises. It could become repetitive, but right now, the demo succeeds in gaining my interest. If Sega ever decides to hire this team to make aSonic the Hedgehogvariant ofthis game, I’d be oh so interested.
