Indie Spotlight: You’ll Get A Charge from ‘Transistor’
Welcome to Indie Spotlight!
Today we take a look at one of the most stylish action RPGs of the year — Transistor!
Supergiant Games, creators of critically acclaimed Bastion, spent well over a year advertising and promoting their second title Transistor, most notably with a main show floor booth during the past two PAX East events. We also got an early peek while covering E3 2013.
Transistor tells the story of Red, a famous singer in the futuristic city of Cloudbank. The game begins with Red kneeling next to a dead man, who is impaled with a sword known as the Transistor. The sword has somehow absorbed the man’s essence (and Red’s voice), and he is able to speak to you through it. Similar to the old man in Bastion, the sword now serves as the narrator and guides you in your journey through Cloudbank, which is being overtaken by a virus known as The Process.
Gameplay involves travelling through the (mostly linear) city and engaging robot enemies in free-range combat. Your abilities that are unlocked as you level up. Each ability can be used in one of three ways:
- As a base attack: You assign the ability to a slot and use it directly. You can have four attacks at once.
- As an upgrade: You can attach an ability to a base attack and give it a unique trait (for example, you can upgrade your teleport to drop bombs where you used to be). Each attack can have two upgrades at a time.
- As a passive bonus: An ability can provide an ongoing effect, like life regeneration. Two passives are allowed at a time.
This opens up literally thousands of ways to mix and match your abilities!
On top of so much customization, you have the most exciting combat tool in your arsenal: Turn(). When activated, you enter a planning mode where the arena freezes and you get to pre-assign movement and attacks. Whatever you coordinate happens in a flash, often taking out enemies before they even get to respond. Of course, there is a cooldown attached to it, so you can end up in a bad situation if used at the wrong time.
Lastly, on occasion you come across secret doors that take you to a private beach. Here you have access to a practice room (a sandbox to practice attack combinations), multiple challenge rooms that test your creativity for more unlocks, and even a jukebox to enjoy the game’s soundtrack.
Fast-paced combat, awesome boss fights and an engaging narrative makes for a very unique and fulfilling experience. Anyone who enjoyed Bastion will have a great time — and if you haven’t, I highly recommend both! Join Red in her struggle through Cloudbank and save the city!
Transistor is available on PC and PlayStation 4.
