15 hrs in as of writing this
It's hard to write about Lethal Company because its still in its infancy but I think the groundwork here is very impressive compared to the wave of co-op horror games that have plagued early access these last few years. Zeekerss is a hugely skilled developer with an incredible 5 games under the belt and their (?) knowledge of game design is reflected on Lethal Company. The gameplay loop is simple but the quota makes every expedition a constant weighing of risk when you can't guarantee that you'll make it out either alive or with enough scrap to meet the deadline, and the monster AI strays from the typical -straight line to you until you can hide- that a lot of other games in the genre use when the monster gimmicks wear off-- think of games like Phasmophobia or Forewarned where the enemy AI just goes straight for you even if they do have gimmicks in their enemy design-. The best example is the huge spider which instead of just making a beeline towards the player it'll stay put if it has no webs set up and rather clings to walls which makes the experience much more scary than just having every enemy have the same copy-pasted AI. Obviously anyone who has played the game also knows the voice chat is the strongest selling point of the game due to how well designed it is and is part of what has made the game an overwhelming succes with its indirect marketing proving its worth with every site being filled with funny clips where someone screams viscerally after failing to do parkour jumps or meeting the neckbreaker for the first time.
There's still a lot to polish though. I don't think the loop is completely airtight design wise which can lead to repetition when thriving or frustration on failure when youre on the last day and fail to meet the deadline-- what's the point of the 0 days remaining instance when you can do nothing but land and instantly take off to just reset the run?-.
The outdoor segments also need a lot of work still. Weather can make runs very unfun (looking at you Stormy and Flooded) due to how debilitating they can be without any extra reward therefore making evading the planets the optimal decision which defeats the risk management thats crystallized in a lot of the game's design and the outdoor enemies are just complete balls, specially the Forest Giant who employs the design I complained about earlier. Nothing about the outdoor obstacles feel like they make you switch it up in a satisfying way and just lead to a lot of frustration, especially since a lot of the enemies just like to camp the ship after nightfall.
Lethal Company is, in any case, one of the most fun multiplayer experiences you can have nowadays without emptying your wallet to do so. I hope the game continues to iron out what faults it has right now and just gets even better, and the game as it stands is still really impressive considering its an early access game with a single update
It's hard to write about Lethal Company because its still in its infancy but I think the groundwork here is very impressive compared to the wave of co-op horror games that have plagued early access these last few years. Zeekerss is a hugely skilled developer with an incredible 5 games under the belt and their (?) knowledge of game design is reflected on Lethal Company. The gameplay loop is simple but the quota makes every expedition a constant weighing of risk when you can't guarantee that you'll make it out either alive or with enough scrap to meet the deadline, and the monster AI strays from the typical -straight line to you until you can hide- that a lot of other games in the genre use when the monster gimmicks wear off-- think of games like Phasmophobia or Forewarned where the enemy AI just goes straight for you even if they do have gimmicks in their enemy design-. The best example is the huge spider which instead of just making a beeline towards the player it'll stay put if it has no webs set up and rather clings to walls which makes the experience much more scary than just having every enemy have the same copy-pasted AI. Obviously anyone who has played the game also knows the voice chat is the strongest selling point of the game due to how well designed it is and is part of what has made the game an overwhelming succes with its indirect marketing proving its worth with every site being filled with funny clips where someone screams viscerally after failing to do parkour jumps or meeting the neckbreaker for the first time.
There's still a lot to polish though. I don't think the loop is completely airtight design wise which can lead to repetition when thriving or frustration on failure when youre on the last day and fail to meet the deadline-- what's the point of the 0 days remaining instance when you can do nothing but land and instantly take off to just reset the run?-.
The outdoor segments also need a lot of work still. Weather can make runs very unfun (looking at you Stormy and Flooded) due to how debilitating they can be without any extra reward therefore making evading the planets the optimal decision which defeats the risk management thats crystallized in a lot of the game's design and the outdoor enemies are just complete balls, specially the Forest Giant who employs the design I complained about earlier. Nothing about the outdoor obstacles feel like they make you switch it up in a satisfying way and just lead to a lot of frustration, especially since a lot of the enemies just like to camp the ship after nightfall.
Lethal Company is, in any case, one of the most fun multiplayer experiences you can have nowadays without emptying your wallet to do so. I hope the game continues to iron out what faults it has right now and just gets even better, and the game as it stands is still really impressive considering its an early access game with a single update
FranzMagitek
4 months ago