30XX: Preview of an early version

When a major publisher forgets about a fan-favorite series for a long time, independent developers often take over. For example, in Capcom no one seems to remember Mega Man X – the last part came out about 15 years ago. But the team Batterystaple Games remembers – the team spent more than three years on development 20XX, spiritual successor to that series. And now it has launched its sequel in Steam Early Access – 30XX. It not only corrects the shortcomings of its predecessor, but also offers a couple of excellent innovations.

Same rules

The previous game interestingly used ideas implemented in Mega Man X, without being a copy of it. Instead of the usual action-platformer, it was a “roglite” with procedural generation: you try to complete the episode, if you die, you start all over again, and if you were able to defeat the boss, then you are offered a choice of three levels – you decide where to move next. This way the basic mechanics were preserved Mega Man X (and regular Mega Man) – there is always an optimal order in which to defeat bosses in order to gain their abilities and simplify the passage.

Classic mode in 30XX does not change this formula much, although there is no choice of levels yet – at the end of the location only one teleport appears to the next zone. But there are already enough maps, and you can evaluate the generation. There is no complete turning of locations upside down – the areas are divided into several zones, which, when restarted, change places and are filled with new enemies and dangers. This allows the game to remain varied for a very long time, which is necessary for a “roglite”.

In accordance with the rules of the genre, after death you lose all progress, but for the currency falling from bosses you can buy permanent improvements – increased health and energy, the ability to be revived once in case of death, as well as “cheat” auto-charging. With it, after a shot or hit, the next attack is charged automatically, and you do not need to hold the button for this. There are currently two playable heroes: Nina, who shoots from a cannon, and Ace, armed with a sword, who has to run up to enemies almost closely. Automatic charging works for both.

At levels you may come across other https://gamblingdata.net/casinos/casino-x/ types of weapons: in the case of Ace, these are spears and shurikens, and in Nina’s case, these are cannons that shoot waves. There are plenty of other upgrades: some fall into the category of improvements, others are considered cores. The latter have a cost, and you can only equip those whose total cost does not exceed eight points. Usually there are very useful bonuses, like shots in three directions or a double jump. And the improvements are predictable: either the speed will be increased, or the damage from abilities will be increased, or additional armor will be added.

As in the previous part, in 30XX very convenient control – this is largely why it is so difficult to tear yourself away from it. The character quickly reacts to your taps, jumps exactly where you want, willingly clings to walls and climbs them with jumps, and also slides off them and can push off at any time. The dash hasn’t disappeared either – you first need to activate it, and then press the jump button, and then the hero will jump further than usual. One of the improvements will allow you to use a dash in the air, which will open up even more possibilities.

Fresh and damp

Fears that the controls would deteriorate were associated with a dramatic change in visual style. IN 20XX there were hand-drawn graphics that made you remember Flash games, and 30XX chose detailed pixel art. The game looks much more solid than its predecessor, and noticeably more attention was paid to all the little things on the screen. All locations are multi-layered: somewhere the walls are falling apart and the background is visible in the holes; in the “Burning Temple” level there is an orange background with pagodas and trees, and these trees are not simple – their crowns are woven from wires.

Sometimes the player will be locked in a room, forced to fight three waves of enemies. Reward – random upgrade.

The variety of locations is reflected in the gameplay mechanics. The enemies are different everywhere – drones with a field of view shooting electricity, spiked wheels, bouncing balls with emoticons. My favorite location is a place in some metropolis where shields hanging on the walls allow you to jump within their limits an infinite number of times. In the second half of the level you fall into the abyss and can move to the sides thanks to the strong wind that blows from below. Bosses and mini-bosses also seem more interesting than in 20XX, and much more closely resemble opponents from Mega Man X.

One of the main innovations 30XX – “Mega mode”. In it, the developers begin to cite the source of inspiration even more, and it’s not just the name. In this mode, progress is saved after death, and you determine the order of levels yourself, just like in old platformers Capcom. Currency, which in classic mode is mainly spent on first aid kits, is useful here for purchasing upgrades in the hub. And permanent upgrades are transferred from one mode to another – if you bought auto-charging in “classic”, then it will be here too.

Of course, it’s best to play with standard rules – with the loss of leveling after death and completing all stages from beginning to end. But since not everyone likes roglites, and the developers don’t want to alienate part of the audience, this add-on fits in perfectly. Not much changes in the gameplay: level generation remains the same, controls and abilities are the same, but there is a little less stress when meeting the boss.

30XX will be in early access for about a year. The game has six levels, in the future the authors will add two final locations, an ending and additional upgrades and bonuses. Quite a lot of work. The interface, for example, is simple, and its incompleteness is written in the pause menu. Dialogues are not ready for all characters, not all upgrades have images in the menu. There is also a level editor, which in the future will allow players to create their own challenges and share them, but for now it is clearly crude, and it is difficult to understand it without hints.

However, this version already inspires belief that 30XX success awaits. At least among the fans Mega Man X and fans of roglite platformers. Beautiful visual style, easy controls, dynamic gameplay, quite a lot of variety – it’s hard to tear yourself away from it until you go through everything and unlock it. And what luxurious chiptune music is there?! With new content and fixes the game will shine even more. It’s better to wait for the final version – who knows how long the development will take?.