After releasing titles such as Sparkle Unleashed, Sparkle 2 and the similar style game Crimsonland, developer 10tons has released its biggest game of the year in Neon Chrome. It is a top-down shooter which uses procedurally-generated levels.
Neon Chrome starts off in a city of the same name, where you will need to take down the Overseer as part of a rebellion. Just like in Meet the Parents’ famous “circle of trust” with Robert DeNiro, Neon Chrome uses a similar trust system. Once a citizen’s level goes to red, the Overseer tries to eliminate them. Your character has risen up against this system in an attempt to take him out. Dying is not a problem, as you respawn into one of another 100 or so randomly generated characters (called assets) at your disposal à la Schwarzenegger’s Total Recall. As an elite hacker, you can awaken assets (soldiers) with different abilities to use in an effort to kill the Overseer. Each death allows you to choose to upgrade your various abilities and weapons with credits picked up within the levels.
Although there are a number of procedurally-generated levels, some appear to be the same as there are only minor differences. This wasn’t really ever an issue as the various changes in enemies and obstacles cause you to alter your approach even on these similar levels. Each of these levels consists of several floors, usually around four to six, which culminates in a boss battle. Defeating the boss (which is difficult) allows you to start at that floor on your next continue. As any rogue-like shooter, Neon Chrome uses the standard weapons of shotguns, SMGs and assault rifles that can all be upgraded with the aforementioned credits. Each time you respawn, your chosen soldier will use a different ability and special attack depending on its class. There are five different classes to choose from, and your playstyle should dictate which one you choose. The classes are:
• Cyber Psycho
• Techie
• Hacker
• Assassin
• Corporate Soldier
You could choose to go with the Techie which has less HP but a rechargeable shield as a trade-off, or opt for the Assassin to deal more damage over a faster time. Your playstyle will determine which one you choose, and you’ll find yourself changing frequently in order to try new paths for success. Neon Chrome sets itself apart in this aspect by adding strategy as a main component to the gameplay. Other top-down shooters allow you to hide or just mow people down with a shotgun. That will work, but only very shortly in Neon Chrome before you find yourself dying repeatedly at the hands of the alerted patrols who respond to your presence.
The entire environment is destructible in Neon Chrome, and offers a wide variety of approaches as a result. As good as a top-down shooter can be, they are destined to become both boring and repetitive by their nature. Neon Chrome does its best at eliminating this with the amount of strategy that is used with the destructible environments. Taking an enemy down by chopping through a wall is more beneficial than blasting through the door. He doesn’t see you, you take no damage and no unnecessary enemies are alerted. It’s implemented very well in Neon Chrome as you deal double damage from behind as well. This is beneficial as the enemy AI brings a twofold attack. Like most AI, they aren’t really that smart. You can lure enemies around corners and into dead ends where a small group can meet a quick end at the hands of a rocket launcher. On the other hand, the enemies just don’t stop coming. They are absolutely relentless and cause major issues when the reinforcements show up. We’re not just talking an extra handful of enemies either, they roll in about thirty deep in Neon Chrome and basically eliminate any chance you have of survival.
The boss fights are where the strategy plays the biggest part. Health regeneration is few and far between, which makes it harder if you don’t use the rechargeable shield. Even the slightest misstep is punished, but it’s not done in an unreasonable way. It’s just enough to invoke the fire of a challenge in you, but I didn’t feel it was over the top enough to leave you rage quitting in frustration. It may be easier to switch character classes if you are finding it too difficult to advance, and the game’s upgrade system makes it pretty easy to do so.
Exploration in Neon Chrome is rightfully rewarded, as you earn much-needed credits. These credits are spent on upgraded cybernetic attachments for weapons as well as stats like luck and health. Remember when Destiny first came out and the Cryptarch gave you lower items than what you decrypted? Yeah, that won’t happen in Neon Chrome. Certain chests always grant you weapons that are one level higher than your current level. It’s a random weapon that may not always be what you want to use, so you’ll have to choose whether to keep the AR or switch to the more powerful shotgun. It doesn’t always fit your playstyle, so the uniqueness of the weapon strategy is something that I appreciated, as it’s different than most top-down shooters and added a higher level of strategy. The absence of these “fluff” upgrades contributes to the replay value in Neon Chrome, and you always feel as if you are actually progressing in the game as opposed to just grinding along.
Neon Chrome not only resembles Crimsonland in genre, but also graphically. With the focus on destruction and shooting, Neon Chrome puts graphics on the back burner. A top-down shooter, the camera is focused far away in order to use a more panoramic, wide-angle view. This means a lack of detail in the environments you are destroying, such as office building interior walls and cubicles. What makes this less repetitive than other similar games is the color scheme. Neon Chrome has darker background objects and morose main colors. Where the game shines (pun intended) is the bright blue neon colors surrounding the edges of its objects like door frames and desks. This provides a good counterbalance to the darker colors, and allows for a more complete experience to accompany the far away camera. The shade of blue is also beautiful. There definitely could have been more variety in the darker colors however. The different shades of black and grey seemed to blend together after awhile and caused me to “zone out” briefly, having to pause and rub my eyes to get focus back. The blue neon is great, but even some brighter shades of the darker colors would be better as it would eliminate the levels from merging together.
Summary
Neon Chrome is a top-down shooter that adds its own little twist to the genre. It didn’t blow me away at any point, but it’s enough to keep you intrigued as it takes a more balanced approach. It’s a fairly large game, larger than most in its genre, and Neon Chrome is definitely worth picking up when you have the chance. It’s a fun game that top-down shooter fans will enjoy. Although it has some issues as noted, the twists on the genre are unique and worth your time. If you’re bored with top-down shooters or looking for a “fresh take”, Neon Chrome will do it for you and it’s worth a shot when you get the chance.
Michael is a games journalist, contributor at 1080Players. They contributed 22 articles to ICXM in 2016, focused on game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: wrote for 1080Players, whose content also appeared on ICXM.