I think the thing I like the most about Ammo and Oxygen is the lighting. I’ve always entertained the notion that good lighting can elevate the atmosphere of a game. I remember playing the first Splinter Cell, all the way back when, and for the first time feeling the presence of light and darkness influence my decisions (in that case as I slipped in and out of the shadows to conduct my espionage on corrupt Georgian officials). Good lighting can give a sense of place and bring new dimensions to gameplay.
Moving in and out of darkness is what we spend much of our time doing in the new top-down sci-fi horror roguelite from Juvty Worlds, Ammo and Oxygen. In this taught roguelite thriller, both light and darkness are important considerations that sit central to the game’s progression loop, as you navigate a strange alien world filled with grotesque monsters that attack on sight and come out at night… mostly.
Your moment-to-moment survival depends on several factors, but at the heart of it is sunlight and shadow. Light and darkness. Day and night. The longer you play and the further you progress, the more you discover about the disaster that befell the colonisation mission that you are a part of. Alas, the monsters get bigger, too, and so escalates a futuristic adventure on a distant world called Voidregula 6, where the elements, the fauna, and the flora are all out to get you.
Surviving the night
As alluded to in the title, both ammunition and oxygen tanks are in short supply on this alien rock, as are other key resources such as health packs and batteries for your torch. You’ll need to carefully manage your resources. Early on, before you’ve earned the points to upgrade your character, you’ll run out of bullets, batteries, and breath more often than you’ll like.
Each death sends you back to the same base of operations a little more powerful after your last foray into the unknown, thanks to a progression system that carries over between attempts. You can also unlock parts of your base and new tactical options by performing in-game actions as simple as visiting locations and picking up a collection of different items. It’s fairly straightforward stuff.
At the heart of the experience is the action-survival gameplay. You control your space dude from a top-down perspective, navigating through prefab planetary structures and open-world canyons filled with alien beasties. Everything is out to kill you, and you’re going to die a lot. A lot a lot. But that’s part of the fun with games like this, right?
For the most part, I’d say “yes.” The gameplay loop here works well for the betterment of the experience, and your failures do indeed feed an ever-growing sense of progression behind the scenes. The combat is solid and feels fair for the most part, but the animations can look a little stiff at times, and once or twice my deaths felt somewhat cheap.
Voidregula 6: an alien world worth visiting?
Everything I’ve seen of Voidregula 6 so far looks good in terms of the visual presentation. The sections that take place inside are particularly atmospheric, although I would have liked some more narrative variety to spice up those earliest runs.
When it comes to the world itself, I think there’s definitely a few rough edges for the developers to smooth out during the game’s Early Access journey. However, while certain aspects of the game’s current state maybe lacks finesse, I really like the setting that has been created and I sincerely want to know more about Voidregula 6, why I’m here, and why there are horrible mutated monsters all over the place.
The day/night cycle is an interesting twist that reminded me a little of Vin Diesel scowl-fest Pitch Black, and as I mentioned up top, I think the use of light and shadow creates a lot of atmosphere here. Ammo and Oxygen creates tension from darkness, and that makes for some lively encounters with the various things that go bump in the night.
I can forgive the rough edges I’ve encountered because I see a whole bunch of potential in this roguish sci-fi adventure, and after five hours or so it has its proverbial claws in me and I’m eager to see more of what it has to offer in terms of story. There are Dead Space vibes for sure, and in many ways Ammo and Oxygen feels more like the game I expected [REDACTED] to be when you consider the similarities between this as The Callisto Protocol.
Anyway, if none of those games mean anything to you then know that Ammo and Oxygen is definitely one to keep an eye on if you enjoy top-down sci-fi horror and survival-themed action-roguelites. If you can forgive the odd technical hiccup and one or two undercooked gameplay systems, there’s already an interesting game here. However, with time I think Juvty Worlds could turn this into something very good indeed, so it might also be worth waiting for them to finish cooking.
PS. I should mention that I also managed to pull my better half away from her Dragon Aging to try the local co-op with me. I think we both thought that it was quite functional and a nice-to-have addition, even if it didn’t add a whole bunch and the extra person somewhat undermines the tension and feel of being alone on a desolate planet…
PPS. Ammo and Oxygen is out now in Early Access on PC Steam, and I played the game on a code provided by the developer.
PPPS. If you’re still reading this you might well be interested in finding out about some similar games, right? If so, here’s my list of the best horror roguelikes and roguelites!
