Livelock by Perfect World and developer Tuque Games is a game that should evoke pleasant feelings of nostalgia in every older gamer. It is a wholesome top-down coop shooter in arcade style, where we stomp through a post-apocalyptic, machine-dominated ruin landscape with one of three robots, smashing, shooting, and blowing everything up!
When I think back to my childhood and youth, there was always one criterion at the top when it came to buying a new game: Can you play it with multiple players? Because as fun as playing alone was, playing with friends in coop mode was so much more fun! And that’s why my heart always sings when I get to play a well-made coop game – and such a game is Livelock!
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Risen from the Ruins
The plot of Livelock is quickly told: Humanity was threatened by cosmic gamma radiation. To “survive,” the Earth’s population was digitized and stored in gigantic storage clusters. An AI called SatCom was supposed to restore the data after the catastrophe and thus ensure a second chance for humanity. But something went wrong, and due to data corruption, the clusters malfunctioned and instead built combat robots that fought each other.
That went on for hundreds of years, but eventually, SatCom was able to find and reactivate the three original test subjects for the digitization. These are three particularly cool robots with human minds that remained unaffected by the data confusion. Their mission: to fight their way through the ruins of Earth and defragment and restart the three major data clusters in the USA, Japan, and Russia so that humanity can finally rise again!
Here Comes the Robo-Calypse!
At the beginning of the game, we choose one of three characters. The choices are the heavy tank Vanguard, the sniper Hex, and the supporter Catalyst. All three robots have a unique style, with Vanguard resembling Knight Reinhardt from Overwatch due to his heavy armor, helmet shape, and giant hammer.
Each of the three robots has its own powers and weapons that require completely different gameplay. Vanguard primarily focuses on melee attacks and can even generate a similar energy shield as his counterpart at Blizzard. Hex, on the other hand, is a nimble ranged fighter who deals damage over time with plasma weapons, while Catalyst focuses on healing effects, turrets, and drones.
In addition to their main weapons, all three robots also have a secondary cannon that requires ammunition and a special weapon like a grenade launcher or mines. However, ammunition for these is limited, so we cannot keep blasting away indefinitely. Instead, we save our super weapons for particularly tough battles.
Shooting, Brawling, Blowing Up!
With the constant influx of enemies in Livelock, it is not easy to choose the right moment to use the special weapon. Enemies flood in from all corners of the map, and we have our hands full. Most of the time, we must fight our way through a manageable area and loot essential items, but sometimes we protect a target object in good tower-defense style. Especially in these missions, enemies deploy whole armies of combat machines, and it crashes and bangs in a delightful way! The controls are wonderfully intuitive and easy to learn and work via mouse and keyboard, but gamepads can also be used.
The individual missions rarely last longer than fifteen minutes and are usually completed in ten minutes. Therefore, Livelock is particularly suited for uncomplicated, short rounds. Through a lobby, we choose the mission and either invite friends or wait for strangers to join our game. This can also happen in the middle of a game if we activate a corresponding option! With multiple players (up to three), the difficulty level increases, but there is also more loot! By the way, the faster and better we complete the mission, the more loot we get.
Robo-Building Kit
With the rewards, we further develop our robot and equip it with better weapons. We can also choose up to two skills and one ultimate ability. This way, we gradually adapt our robot and optimize it for a role, which makes the most sense in coop mode. For example, we can fully equip our hefty Vanguard as a tank and give him shields and damage reduction, while our Catalyst focuses completely on healing and Hex maximizes DPS. The Holy Trinity from MMORPGs in robot form!
To keep Livelock from getting boring, we can always restart the campaign, which lasts about 5-6 hours, and also pick individual missions. Additionally, there are difficulty levels with similarly increasing rewards. Thus, Livelock has a high replay value.
Mein-MMO says: Livelock is one of those games that you always enjoy playing again, especially with coop which is a blast. This is mainly due to the uncomplicated action that doesn’t require much brainpower but is so much fun. Thus, Livelock is the perfect game for a quick break or after a long workday when the two best buddies are online on Steam.
