Review: Transcripted

Transcripted (2012)

Developer: Alkemi

Platform: Personal Computer

Induction Date: 09/11/2012

 

Don't you ever wish sometimes when playing a Zuma or a Luxor game that you can freely move your "ship" around instead of being stuck rotating from one spot or being confined to just one axis? Well, Transcripted is here to make that wish a reality with its bold gameplay combination between a twin stick shooter and a puzzle game that actually works really well together.

 

Who knew such deadly strain can look so mesmerizing.

 

In Transcripted, you control a Nano Probe inside of human tissue samples. For the most part, you are tasked to weaken chains of pseudo-DNA, an ever moving formation of colored cubes, by shooting the cubes you collected from destroying enemies into the chain and matching three cubes of the same color. As you may have suspected, the fact that you are inside human tissues, the game's story revolves around the battle against some dangerous pathogen. The story mode will take you through 25 stages with varying objectives as well as boss encounters and along the way, you are presented with voiced skits between Adam, the guy who is navigating the Nano Probe, Nadia the witty artificial intelligence assistant, and the head of the research, Professor Dahl. The story itself is predictable but it does a nice job providing the appropriate context to what you are doing on screen. The game may seem simple enough at first - you shoot enemies to collect cubes then shoot the cubes into the formation - but there is actually plenty of depths found in the game. The most obvious being the invincibility mechanics - whenever you collect a cube, the Probe slows down to a crawl but enemy shots will bounce off you while you can collide with enemies safely. You can only hold the cube for a short period of time so it's all about strategic positioning when to shoot out the cube. It's almost as hypnotic as switching polarities in Ikaruga and it can get extremely challenging to balance out killing off enemies and breaking the DNA chains at higher difficulties.

 

You know you are diseased when you find that thing in your tissue.

 

The story mode also features a Tech Research talent tree that you can unlock using "Experimental Points" - yeah, like experience points - you gathered from the stages. These range from buffing up your health and shield, unlocking new weapons and maneuvers, to increasing your movement speed. The way you prioritize your Probe's improvements is entirely up to you. Even after you have completed the story mode, you can always replay stages to collect more XP if you are interested in maximizing the proficiency of your Probe.

 

The Tech Research provides a nice sense of progression in the story mode.

 

I really like the way the game looks. Since the action is taking place on a microscopic level, the stages have that monochromatic feel to it with the most colorful thing on screen being the psedo-DNA chains and everything looks organic except for the Probe itself. More attractive however is the game's ambient soundtrack that really sets the mood for the game with its serious, dark overtone. The sound effects on other hand are a little timid but that's to be expected since this is a game about microbes and not about shooting motherships or giant robots.

 

Rotating wheel of death.

 

The story mode comes with three difficulty levels and on top of that, you also get 5 challenge levels where you are granted access to limited Probe abilities as you attempt to climb up the leaderboard. Transcripted is a unique and fun hybrid shooter that has managed to concoct a near perfect balance between shooting and puzzle-solving. The problem is that it's too easy to get overwhelmed by the the enemies after switching in and out of invincibility and I think that providing the Probe with more firepower would have solved that issue. Still, fans of the genres, particularly those who love shmups, will find the game enjoyable. Transcripted costs $9.99 but it is currently offered for $8.99 on Steam until the 09/18/2012.

 

RATING: 4 out of 5

Steam key provided by developer.