Sublevel Zero Redux Review – Xbox One

We are years-deep into the nostalgic trend of modern games taking on classic genres. For a time during the mid-to-late 90’s, space sims and corridor crawlers were immensely popular. So, it only stands to reason that a fresh take on Descent would come along- enter Sublevel Zero.

Sublevel Zero is a first-person corridor crawler/shooter that drops you in a zero-g craft, and sends you hurtling down corridor after corridor with 360 degrees of motion as you fight to find your way home in an unstable universe of collapsing space time. If anything, this reality-bending premise allows for creative use of the game’s use of random level generation. Things don’t make sense or have any consistency from run to run because the very nature of reality is twisting like a pretzel. It’s one of the most clever aspects of Sublevel.

When it comes to control and feel, Sublevel Zero is in it’s own class. The game feels great, and runs at a solid framerate, which is important when your game is built around complete freedom of movement. Sublevel has a great look, style, and feel to it that evokes exactly the right level of intended nostalgia the developers are going for without stepping over that edge into pandering territory. Pixels explode into bright bursts of color, and the lighting and design of the constantly-changing environments set the mood for both combat and exploration.

All of this tilts my thoughts on Sublevel towards the positive, but there are several negative aspects to the game that bog it down, and keep it from being exceptional. The main issues with the game come down to poor UI and UX. The interface is all over the place, and needlessly convoluted regardless of the platform you play it on, although on consoles it’s an exceptionally noticeable issue. Getting used to where everything is, and how to access it all takes way more of an adjustment than it should. This makes for an odd experience overall that takes the player out of the moment too frequently. It’s all distracting in a way that’s unfortunate given the potential of the game.

If you’re desperate for some Descent-like gameplay, and can look past several design issues, Sublevel Zero might just be what you’ve been looking for. If a refined experience is more important to you, however, you might want to steer clear.

Author: Mike Murphy
Mike Murphy is a freelance writer/artist based in Portland, Or. In addition to handling game reviews, he also writes comics, novels, and short stories. For more information feel free to check out chibicomicspdx.tumblr.com or twitter.com/chibi_mike.

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