‘I Am Your Beast’ Mini Review
Developer: Strange Scaffold | Platform: PC | Playtime: 3:05
Sometimes in a game you want a grand sprawling narrative with twists and turns, far off locales to visit and friends to make along the way. Sometimes however, you just want a crunchy arcade piece that let’s you feel like a God for a bit. Mixing Hotline Miami, Hitman, Superhot and Neon White, you’ve got a certified banger.
Playing as Alphonse Harding, you are an ex member of the COI - a government black ops team. You’ve left that life behind to enjoy the finer aspects of life in the woods. It’s only when his Old General sends troops into his forest to recapture him for future work does Harding spring into action. Story is told via voice overs in between chapters and as is seemingly the standard with Strange Scaffold games, it’s very well done. Very authentic sounding in a way other games don’t really seem to manage.
The game is split into 26 levels and the main gameplay loop involves killing soldiers at speed and getting to the exit. Some levels have you destroying satellite dishes or collecting laptops or even holding out against waves but you’re always shooting and getting shot at. There’s no stealth to distract you, you’re just blasting. Guns are everywhere but all of them have limited ammo. Luckily you can throw them at enemies to make them drop their guns and continue onwards. There’s a lot of momentum to be had and it feels good when you get a feel for the guns ammo, when to swap and throw. As the game goes on, enemies will start to use Shotguns, Assault Rifles and Snipers, but that just means you can use them too.
Each level has to be completed under a time limit, which also gives a grade. Once a level is beaten, a challenge is unlocked and a second one when the first is done. Completing these unlocks challenge levels which I didn’t do. For the most part progression is handled through completing levels but there are a couple points where you’ll need a couple A ranks, an S rank and completing some of the challenges. Usually I’m not a fan of gating story progression behind arbitrary things like this but I suppose it’s no different than say, a boss fight. Regardless the requirements here weren’t too harsh so it wasn’t much of a hurdle.
This is a very rare game where I can’t really think of any complaints. It’s absolutely a game you either love or hate. I happened to love it so I had a fantastic time with it. If it comes to Playstation, I’ll definitely be playing again and going full throttle for Platinum. It’s just that good.
