Steam Next Fest is upon us, and it can be overwhelming to sift through the list of playable demos and figure out which ones deserve your attention. So we thought we’d share a few recommendations from the Respawn Station team, starting with DERELIKT from solo developer Visuwyg. The game is slated for release later this year, and we were given early access to the demo that you can download now.
I have a soft spot for retro first-person shooter games despite having missed that generation. PS1-era visuals lend themselves nicely to tense atmospheric horror experiences, and that’s something quite a few indie games have taken advantage of in recent years. DERELIKT is one such game, and it wears its influences proudly. After a little over an hour with the game, playing through a few different levels stitched together with cutscenes, I can confidently say that DERELIKT is one to keep an eye out for.
The PlayStation 1-themed splash screens that play when you boot up the game set the stage for the experience ahead. After a brief cutscene that feels all too fitting for the sci-fi horror genre, DERELIKT begins with you docking your ship on a research station built on a derelict asteroid orbiting Saturn. It doesn’t take long to understand that something’s not right. People are hearing strange voices, the lead researcher has locked himself in his “study” for days, and the last crew that went onto the asteroid surface never came back. The bad news? You’re going in after them. The good news? You’re not unarmed.
The game has all the hallmarks of a survival horror shooter, from big guns that always seem low on ammo to secrets hidden in nooks and crannies. It’s a tested formula, and it’s fairly effective here. Your time with DERELIKT will be split between solving puzzles (which so far are fairly simple) and shooting creepy crawlers that jump out at you. There’s a map to help nudge you back in the right direction if you’re lost, and while weapons pack a punch, insufficient ammo reserves will have you swapping between guns often.
DERELIKT looks and sounds great, surrounding you with the atmosphere of the Von Neumann Outpost. While odd audio glitches and janky flashlight mechanics signal the game’s incomplete state, it’s still hard not to be immersed as you walk through cramped station hallways and even more cramped metal vents. By default, the game has the crunchy low-pixel look akin to the older generation of consoles, but there is a hi-res toggle in the settings that gives everything a crisper edge. I personally switched between crunchy and crispy, and I can’t honestly decide which I like more. They both look good and invoke a good sense of atmosphere.
Part of why the game is so atmospheric is the level of audio detail accompanying the visuals. Weapons sound loud, and most of the things you interact with sound as if they could really use some WD-40. It also helps that the game’s writing is really faithful to genre mainstays. DERELIKT doesn’t have any voice acting, but the dialogue right from the first cold cup of coffee you interact with in the demo feels appropriate to the subject matter.
That said, I do have some critiques to share as well, in hopes that they are addressed in the full game. Firstly, there doesn’t seem to really be a run feature in the game, which can make any backtracking feel like a slog. And that’s only exacerbated if you get confused or have to revisit a previous location to check the order of pillars for a code, for example. Also, while I do appreciate that they make a reference to it, there’s a lot of data slates just sitting around in the game. They feel randomly placed and not the most rewarding to find. Lastly, this won’t be an issue for all, but it is worth calling out that it can sometimes be difficult to figure out where to go next.
There’s more to discover in DERELIKT, such as insights that help you level up and runes to upgrade, but we will let you discover that for yourself. In the end, if you’re a fan of sci-fi horror, akin to Doom 3 or System Shock 2, then you’ll want to keep an eye on DERELIKT. It’s dark, it’s atmospheric, and it was clearly made with love for the genre. You can visit the Steam page now to play the demo and wishlist the game ahead of the November 13 release date. For more indie game coverage, stay tuned to Respawn Station.
