Forced – multiplayer tactical overload
FORCED is a new tactical co-op arena combat game from indie developer BetaDwarf. In it, you play a slave that is forced into gladiatorial combat by village elders who believe this will appease their gods. It turns out that they may be just a bit misguided. Now you fight for your life and your freedom in grueling arenas filled with tenacious monsters and cunning traps. With the aid of Balfus, your Spirit Mentor, you will team up with your fellow gladiators to solve puzzles and slay the hordes of nasty creatures and try not to get turned into yet another smear on the dirt.
FORCED features one to four person co-op play in a very arcade feeling environment. The control takes a little getting used to as it has a twin stick setup with trigger activated weapon attacks on a controller. Using the mouse and keyboard, you move with WASD and aim your attacks with the mouse. It’s kind of like the bastard offspring of Gauntlet and Smash TV that grew up and decided it liked RPG elements and skill trees. It also features the ability to set up your own games so that you and your friends can always be sure to play your own game. Set it up at a LAN party for a much more personal experience.
I personally spent most of my time with FORCED playing the single player campaign. This is, in large part, due to my embarrassingly lacking skill and coordination coupled with a desire to not upset three other people. I still enjoyed the hell out of my game experience regardless of my repetitive and predictable demise. The key to success in multiplayer, from my very limited experience, seems to be knowing who in the fuck is bossing around Balfus. Several attempts to play through levels were horribly botched by a tug-of-war fight that nobody knew they were participating in. However, having the various classes all interacting together in the arena was hands down better than trying to run things solo. You know, until I died and left the other players to carry on in quiet anger until I finally respawned.
Speaking of the various classes, what really does it for me in FORCED is the customization of powers and passives. There are only so many slots available for abilities and it comes down to not just knowing a class, but also knowing how to best synergize attacks and passives. All of the RPG love in an action game is freaking awesome. The other, less crunchy awesome bit is Balfus. Incorporating an amount of humor into the otherwise boring task of going through a tutorial and getting the hang of the somewhat complicated mechanics of the game.
It is certainly worth noting that the graphics (when set to “beautiful” as opposed to “fast but ugly”) are pretty remarkable. The environments are surprisingly well fleshed out for being gladiatorial arenas. The character models are all unique so that you don’t have to try and memorize which palette swapped color scheme means what.
Frankly, while FORCED is pretty remarkable as an arcade co-op arena game, it’s just not a game for me. I absolutely lack the skill and coordination required to excel at the game. Half of the time I realize that I have no idea where my mouse is at and get my ass handed to me while I try to figure it out. That said, if you really want puzzle solving and tactical combat wrapped up in a candy coating of humor and shiny graphics, you should be checking out FORCED. If you hadn’t clicked the link to BetaDwarf above, do yourself a favor and at least check out the story of the people that made this game here. It’s quite inspiring for anyone that wants to create something of this magnitude and is willing to put in the effort needed to do it.
