Foregone, by Big Blue Bubble, is a hand-crafted action-packed platforming game about loot and mayhem, that I got to play at PAX South.
Most action-platform games of this generation take a rogue-like approach, offering random rooms, enemies, and loot in exchange for speedier development. Foregone offers a properly crafted approach to its level design, ensuring every encounter is intentional and progression is linear, refreshingly taking the genre back to its roots.
Loot plays a heavy role in your purpose in Foregone and your ability to survive. Looking for the next best melee or ranged weapon is a constant task, and making sure you have the right tools for the battle ahead adds to the challenge. Knives and other small weapons naturally are faster, where longer swords, falchions and the like are slower, but do more damage. Ranged weapons are fairly consistent, but can go up in power or amount of projectiles fired; both guns and bows are represented here. Weapons are persistent, so you can find yourself clutching your favorite weapon through each run.
In order to save the city of Calagan from hordes of enemies (known as The Harrow) who are looking to savage you and yours, your abilities will come to rescue you time and time again. You can equip up to two abilities at a time, at one of the hubs in the world, and these abilities can range from area attacks that allow you to dispel energy around you, hitting enemies for a hearty amount of damage to buffs that give you additional defense or attack power. It’ll be up to you to decide your favorites to equip and enjoy.
The action itself is a sight to behold, and you’ll quickly begin to understand the sense of speed you’re afforded when moving around as a super-soldier. Dashing and double-jumping from ledge to ledge lends itself to a fluid sense of play, one with mass amounts of violence as you lay to waste anything in your path. Sword strikes and dashing out of the way of a counter-attack allow you a feeling of invulnerability until you make a misstep and it’s game over just as fast. Its violent ballet of bullets and swordplay feels similar to other games like Dead Cells, but at the same time, learning from your mistakes with a level that stays persistent offers a fair opportunity for players sick of cheap kills and endless mazes.
Foregone offers a gorgeous and deadly world, filled with secrets and treasure — if you survive long enough to find it. Enemies are tough but fair, and with a customizable ability tree and persistent weaponry, you feel powerful against their endless onslaught. I’m anxious to see what else the game has in store when it releases later this year.
Foregone will be available with early access on the Epic Games Store on February 27th. Check out their Twitter and website for more information.
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