I haven’t got a good relationship with first person shooters on the whole. I often feel like I've gotten everything I can out of the genre after my time with Call of Duty 4. I remember seeing the sequel a year or two later, I watched some friends play and I thought, oh it’s identical. Personally I think the same can be said for most games in the genre, because of it’s saturation..
I’m just a bit bored with the first-person shooter now, I want to see some ideas and new directions.
Enter, Receiver...
A game originally created in a 7-day FPS challenge, Receiver explores the handling of guns in a way that I've never seen done before. Simulating the mechanics involved in firing and reloading of three different firearms in a more realistic manner, Receiver changes the conventions and challenges
involved in a first person shooter.
The game takes place across a procedurally generated map that changes every round. You are placed in a random location when you respawn and are equipped with a Colt 1911, Smith & Wesson revolver or a Glock 17 as well as an undetermined amount of ammunition and sometimes a torch. Your goal is to locate and play 11 cassette tapes scattered about the map and take out enemy flying drones or sentry turrets you encounter.
Through playing the tapes collected you slowly piece together the games plot. You are told an invisible enemy has been orchestrating something called the “Mind-kill.” Years of subliminal attacks through various media has weakened humanity, but you the player are immune to the effects and have therefore been recruited as a Receiver.
The tapes play out in a clever way as they talk of subliminal messages and having to be replayed multiple times to ‘take effect’ and given the nature of the games procedural generation you’re likely to hear the tapes multiple times, making this a cool fourth wall breaker if a bit creepy.
It’s a typical dystopian sci-fi plot here reminiscent of 1984 and John Carpenter’s They Live (Unfortunately without the cool glasses). This combined with the minimalist, stylish visuals and electro soundtrack help paint a picture of the games world that feels just-right, giving enough negative space for players to flesh-out in their own minds if they so wish.
The three guns handle very differently and getting accustomed to each does take time. To begin you have to teach yourself how each gun fires and reloads, Revolver being the easiest to use (and explain). As well as WASD and space to move and G to pick up items you have to take into account these other keys,
“E” Releases the barrel exposing the rounds
“V” Will clear the barrel of empty casings,
“Z” will insert live rounds,
“R” returns the barrel,
“F” pulls back the hammer...oh and don’t forget the mouse wheel spins the barrel.
Got that? That’s the easy one as well!
The other two guns use the same buttons for their mechanisms but become more complicated when it comes to using the slide and having to holster your gun completely to replenish ammunition to a cartridge. It becomes somewhat of a juggling act but when it all comes together with muscle memory it’s fantastic.
One thing that can be quite jarring at first is the fact that you don’t have any arms.
Instead you draw your weapon by holding right mouse button which works quite well to get rid of the floaty feel of the gun. In a Vlog the developer at Wolfire games had stated that the arms would've taken up too much time in development and may have obscured the gun mechanics too so I can understand that.
Combat feels tense and exciting given the amount of effort you need to put into the mechanics and not to mention if you’re shot once you’re dead! It’s recommended to play cautiously then as you’re never sure what lurks around each corner and more often than not ammo is scarce.
Receiver’s best moments are when you’re scouting the area meticulously and peeping into a new location then you manage to take out a drone or sentry perfectly and being able to properly reload afterward without fumbling or the rush of adrenaline when you do fumble under pressure as a drone
spots you, it’s great stuff.
I've had a lot of fun with Receiver, given the nature of the game making it easy to pick up and play when I get a moment or burn a couple of hours on. I can’t recommend it enough and at £4 it’s worth a look out of curiosity.
Receiver is available for Windows, Mac and Linux now through Steam and DRM free at http://www.wolfire.com/receiver
Thanks for reading,
Kris
