Musings On... Teleglitch: Die More Edition

I'd seen trailers for Teleglitch and been nonplussed, thinking that the gameplay looked simplistic and repetitive. These inhibitions were flung out of the window when I saw that it was available for a bargain price as part of January's Humble Roguelike Bundle. I'd also heard that it was scary. I hate scary games, just as much, if not more than, scary films. Still I gave a derisive snort at the notion that such a simple-seeming game could be so scary...

Teleglitch's plot is a melting pot of classic sci-fi ideas. The game is set in an abandoned research facility on Medusa-1C, a planet with a toxic atmosphere and which is ominously distant from Earth. The research company bought it because of its incredibly low price, and with the hope that its remoteness meant their experiments would go unnoticed. The team on Medusa-1C were conducting research into teleportation, until it all, inevitably, went wrong. The AI went bad, zombies and mutants appeared, and so on. In classic fashion the basic setup is given to you in a big block of scrolling text at the beginning, then you garner further information from computer terminals as you progress.

It all, inevitably, went wrong. The AI went bad, zombies and mutants appeared...

It's a ramshackle cliched plot, but crucially the game knows it. The messages on said computer terminals are often funny. You'll encounter strange, throbbing black clouds a couple of times before reading an entry about them – 'we could weaponise [the substance of the black clouds] by capturing the field into super intense... cannons to be used for planetary bombardment. Oh, and if you touch it, your brain explodes.' Good to know! At another point, upon teleporting to a new level, the main character remarks, 'If I'm lucky the sector should still be deserted, and I might be able to slip through unhindered.' The script is knowing, and genuinely makes you chuckle.

The gameplay, specifically the shooting, is simplistic. Most rounds of combat consist of running around in circles trying to keep away from enemies while lining up the perfect shot. Ammo is kept quite scarce, which forces you to fight more smartly than you otherwise might. Most of the weapons lack physicality. This shouldn't be excused by the graphics, because in Hotline Miami, for example, the weapons felt incredibly violent and kinetic. The sound effects don't help. Most of the guns sound generic and weak, although explosions from grenades etc. sound sudden and visceral (similar to those in Half-Life 2). The sound effects of your enemies are repetitive and not exactly spine-chilling.

So why does the game feel so tense? Part of this must be attributed to classic roguelike traits. Teleglitch ticks many of the boxes – permadeath, finite ammo, reliance on looting for health. Perhaps the biggest reason, however, is the dynamic way in which the camera works. Your field of view constantly changes, both in depth and width, depending on your character's position. Turning a corner, or looking behind a pillar, becomes fraught with peril. Opening doors is the worst part, only absolute blackness being visible beyond until you move close enough to trigger their opening, not knowing what low-res horrors await. As in films and TV shows (at least, in my opinion), the complete lack of music also ratchets up the tension. The sound effects themselves might not be the best you've heard, but they're still effective enough when you've been moving in absolute silence for the past minute or so.

Perhaps the biggest reason the game feels so tense is the dynamic camerawork 

Teleglitch is a strange game to evaluate. It lacks graphical and audio polish, but the way in which it makes use of its visuals and sound is certainly effective. The plot is derivative and generically-told, but the writing itself is witty. It feels like more than the sum of its parts. You get so invested in the game as you're playing it that you fail to notice its faults. A session of Teleglitch is emotionally draining, and perhaps because of this it's not as compulsive as some other roguelikes, such as Rogue Legacy. Don't just buy this because you're a fan of roguelikes. It's an interesting game though, and certainly an experience to play.

Teleglitch: Die More Edition is available now on PC, from a variety of retailers.