UNLOVED [Early Access Review]
Game: UNLOVED
Genre: First-person Coop Action Horror
Developer: BlueEagle Productions
Publisher: Paul Schneider
Copy supplied by developer
UNLOVED is a first-person coop action horror game developed by BlueEagle Productions and published by Paul Schneider, and is based on the modification of the same name for Doom II. The game is currently available on Early Access, and will be updated based on the feedback from the fans.
GRAPHICS
The game is developed with the Unreal Engine 4, and it looks and performs really well. The current setting is the Apartment, and it features dark and rusty corridors, creepy basements and rooms with multiple paintings on the walls. The three enemy types also look very good and creepy: you have a nurse-like monster that shoots fireballs and melees you, a vampire-hunter looking fellow that shoots at you, and a big fat monster who rushes in and requires multiple shots to be killed. If you like the Silent Hill games as I do, you will enjoy both the level and monster design.
GAMEPLAY
When you start a new game, you can choose the amount of players, the map's size and wether or not to play the Daily Level (same for every player) or a Randomly Generated level. Your goal is to survive the monsters and find 7 blood machines to use an elevator and go to another level. There are currently only two guns in the game, a Pistol and a Shotgun. You can also customize your character's colors by buying color schemes, as well as finding trinkets that give you perks in-game.
While this might sound boring or repetitive, I was surprisingly enjoy every second of it. Probably because I liked the original modification, the atmosphere and the fast paced action. While playing solo, you will be spooked multiple times by the increasing and overwhelming amount of enemies. While playing coop, you will have a blast running through the rooms with your friends, shooting demons in the face and finding all the collectibles.
CHALLENGE
Unless you play on the easiest difficulty (in which enemies die after a couple of shots), the game will be challenging. Alone you will die after 10-15 minutes due to the amount of enemies that keeps spawning, while with other players you will most likely survive and still feel the tension of being constantly attacked. I recommend playing online, otherwise your solo experience will quickly become borderline frustrating to some players. However, the ever-changing maps and amount of collectibles make you want to keep playing.
SOUND
As with many horror games, the sound is the most important aspect to make it succeed. And UNLOVED has great monster and ambient noises, as well as a perfectly fitting soundtrack: when there aren't many enemies roaming the rooms, the music is soft and eerie, and when they start rushing in and trying to kill you, the music keeps building up and it gives you both energy and tension to kill the monsters. I love when this happens in horror games, because it enhances the experience quite a lot.
REPLAYABILITY
Even though there is only one location, the focus on coop, fast combat, multiple secrets and collectibles, trinkets and randomly generated levels make this a game that feels fresh every time you play it.
Overall, I had a ton of fun playing this game solo and with friends: the atmosphere is great, the combat is fluid and the replayability hooks you up. If you like action games, if you like multiplayer games, if you like action-horror, if you like survival-horror - you will enjoy this game. It's a very good game, very well developed and we must support it.
Story: n/a
Graphics: 8
Gameplay: 8.5
Challenge: 9
Sound: 9
Replayability: 8.5
ENJOYMENT: 8.5
FRUSTRATION: 5
