The Anacrusis, currently in early access, has really been putting me on the spot. It might look ā and play ā like a sci-fi Left 4 Dead, but The Anacrusis also sports the same awkward energy as Among Us and TVās The Crystal Maze with its respawn mechanics.
For those unfamiliar with the latter, youāve missed out on Richard OāBrien, Ed Tudor-Pole, or, more recently, Richard Ayoade running around a warehouse while a group of idiots fails to solve the most rudimentary puzzles. āTo win a crystal, name a type of household pet,ā one puzzle clue would read.
āIS IT TAC? TRY TAC!ā a contestantās teammates would yell as the chosen participant fumbles with the letters A, C and T. If they were lucky, theyād stumble out of the puzzle room, empty-handed, before they were locked in. If they werenāt, theyād be forced to sit there, hoping that the other contestants would sacrifice a crystal to let them out.
The Anacrusis might not sport any insultingly simple puzzles, preferring instead to hurl all manner of alien nasties at you, but its respawn system is just as wicked. Should someone get downed by a beastie, you can help them up if you get to them in time, as is the case with Left 4 Dead. But if theyāre killed, your only option is to respawn them. The twist is that doing so unleashes a horde of aliens that will descend on you while those teammates regenerate.
āBut itās worth the risk to get my teammate(s) back,ā I reasoned as I pressed down on both thumbsticks and prepared to face the horde. My fellow survivors survived the onslaught, albeit with less health points than we previously had, and 30 seconds later, we were on our way.
However, two minutes after that, we were flailing around on the floor because the player weād brought back to life had decided to run off in the opposite direction. I donāt know if anyone could hear me yelling through my microphone, but as I struggled to blast alien snot off a survivor, I had a few choice words for my recently resurrected comrade.
Thatās why, from that point onwards, Iād find myself pausing every time The Anacrusis helpfully reminded me I could respawn the fallen. In theory itās all about teamwork, but if your team doesnāt actually work ā or one of them doesnāt ā are you doing yourself any favors by breathing new life into them? You canāt choose which teammates to resurrect, but if more than one is dead, thereās a good chance youāre doomed anyway. So youāre left to ponder whether getting SusBinky04 back is worth taking the hit for.
Speaking of sus, if youāre sharing a Discord channel or the equivalent, thereās potential for some Among Us-style voting. Certainly, for a game about working together, the respawn system in The Anacrusis can be weirdly dehumanizing. Whenever a player did something stupid, Iād make a mental note of it, assigning it to their imaginary ledger.
Yes, the voice lines make it seem like weāre the best of buddies, but I just watched you hurl yourself off the promenade for no good reason. Tough luck, youāre staying dead. Does that run contrary to the spirit of the game? Yes. Does it make me sound like a smug, condescending prick? Also yes.
But in my defense, The Anacrusisā respawn system is set up in such a way that, if youāre playing with strangers at least, it complicates the notion of teamwork. Any one player can trigger it, so whoever initiates a respawn takes responsibility for bringing down the horde and, in a roundabout way, for SusBinky04 trying to speedrun the level solo.
I got my comeuppance, though. Whether the recent patch has upped the difficulty or Iāve just had a run of bad luck, Iāve found myself in need of respawning on several occasions. And like some hapless Crystal Maze lock-in, Iāve been sitting there waiting for a second chance, pondering whether anyone else is going to click those thumbsticks. Still, itās not like theyāre judging me on my performance, right? And even if they were, I wouldnāt hold it against themā¦ probably.
Published: Jan 29, 2022 12:00 pm