InDev Spotlight - Fatal Theory by 2Hit Studio (PC)

Today in what I hope becomes a recurring feature of the blog, I will be reviewing a game that is very much still in development, hence the title "InDev Spotlight." Makes sense right? Good, so let's get on with it:

Fatal Theory by 2Hit Studio is, in the simplest terms - fun.

But that isn't much of a review, is it? So lets go deeper. The game, as I said, is still in development so any nitpicks that I may have still have plenty of time to get worked out and sorted. The story follows our hero - Nick Mayhem, who is just a regular guy with a baseball bat who hits the street for a spot of zombie skull crushing when he hears about the zombie apocalypse that has befallen the world, but before too long finds himself embroiled in a deeper plot featuring demons, ghouls and a kickass Chainsword with the disembodied spirit of a demon, a demon he just defeated no less, contained within. After that fight, the best line I have seen so far in the game is spoken: Vlad : "...Have at you" Nick (after a well timed baseball bat to the skull) "How's THAT for at having!?." I laughed probably a lot more than I should have at that, but t hat brings me to my next point.

"How's THAT for at having"

The humour laced throughout Fatal Theory is my favourite mix of dark but cheesy which helps to add some depth to the characters, Nick isn't the only one who uses humour throughout the game, in the very comicbookesque cut-scenes even the enemies will crack jokes before or even after a fight.

The controls of Fatal Theory are simple to grasp, and the unreleased demo version I was lucky enough to be privy to also adds game pad support. Which is perfect for the kind of game that Fatal Theory is. The controls feel responsive and attacks are satisfying to land, especially with the Chainsword. There is one slight issue with jumps seeming to take slightly too long to register with both game-pad and arrow keys, the issue is more prevalent with a game-pad however. As is often an issue with games that have less attack buttons to chose from, Fatal Theory feels to lack attack variety but  after you receive the Chainsword, you are able to use a series of inputs to pull of some special moves using the Rage mechanic, which adds a little more variety to the attacks you can do and helps keep the combat fresher for longer.

The sound and music in Fatal Theory are both excellent and fit thematically. A small problem I have is the repetitive Chainsword sound clip, after 20 or 30 attacks that all play this clip, it gets a tad grating, but that is a minor issue that is dusted over by the music being great and the game-play solid.

The art has two distinct styles, from the comicbook style cutscenes to the in-game pixel art, both are nicely done and give the game, at least to me, a kind of Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game, mixed with a well presented graphic novel feel. Which is something that is only to be applauded. The retro style of graphics is something that I have come to love over recent years and this game pulls it off well.

I am glad that I contacted 2Hit about reviewing Fatal Theory and I am even more glad that they were OK with me doing it. Keep your eyes on 2Hit, these guys could go far. They are also in the process of getting the unreleased demo version I was given onto Desura which will only help this game grow and be even better. We don't give numerical scores for games here at FairPlay but if we did, Fatal Theory would get a bloody high one.

You can follow the progress of Fatal Theory here