I Am Your Beast was offered by Unusual Scaffold for assessment. Thanks!
I first performed I Am Your Beast throughout one of many Steam Subsequent Fests, and I used to be blown away by it. The gunplay was phenomenal and fluid, making it actually really feel like I used to be taking part in as somebody like John Wick, continually taking pictures, kicking, choosing up weapons, and utilizing traps to kill all of the enemies round. It’s dangerously addicting, and it instantly went on my want checklist. Nicely, I used to be additionally fortunate sufficient to be accredited to assessment the sport, and all it did was solidify simply how a lot I find it irresistible.
I Am Your Beast is a first-person shooter about an ex-special agent who desires to stay alone in a forest. Sadly, his previous commanding officer desires him again for a job, however he would not know methods to take no for a solution. As an alternative, he sends platoon after platoon to deliver you in, however as a substitute simply finally ends up beginning to destroy the house you might have constructed after getting away. Now, you’ll cost in and must demolish the enemy, killing everybody nevertheless you possibly can.
Unusual Scaffold has all the time had a novel method of telling compelling tales, even when they appear minimal, and that development continues right here. Dialogue and cutscenes are available in what they name “kinetic typography,” which is actually simply textual content on the display screen that is available in phrase by phrase whereas additionally altering the background shade relying on who’s speaking. This may increasingly appear fairly regular, however I used to be shocked by how compelling it’s. It helps that the voice actors are nice, and I acquired sucked into every character nearly instantly, however there’s one thing impactful concerning the background modifications, the way in which the phrases come on display screen, the colour of the phrases, and the supply. All of it works collectively and helps create an attractive story that I wished to see by to the tip.
There are a large number of various places, however all of them happen in numerous components of the forest, day and night time, and completely different obstacles all through every. Even with this, it by no means felt previous to see comparable sights. It has a pleasant 3D artwork model that has a pleasant stability between complicated and minimalist. It has a cel-shaded really feel to it and does remind me of comic-book artwork. I feel it really works nicely with the sport and highlights the gameplay precisely the place it must be. The soundtrack is booming and matches so nicely with the sport, and it simply all works collectively completely.
That brings us to I Am Your Beast’s gameplay, which might be certainly one of my favorites within the first-person style. You run round completely different ranges to finish aims, which may range from killing everybody, destroying satellites, or interacting with completely different objects. To perform these duties, you’ll have to plow by enemy brokers utilizing their very own tools. This leads to a loop of killing, throwing weapons, kicking, stealing weapons, blowing up barrels, setting traps, and doing all of it as quick as you possibly can.
It is insane not solely what you possibly can accomplish but additionally how clean all of it feels. For instance, I used to be dealing with off towards 4-5 enemies all in entrance of me, so I took them out by kicking one to the bottom, grabbing the pistol that flung out of his arms, doing a fast flip, taking pictures the individuals behind me within the head, fast turning again, throwing my empty pistol at them, grabbing the fight knife they dropped, stabbing 2 of them, then throwing the knife at an additional away enemy. All of this was completed inside a cut up second, and it felt unimaginable. I used to be truly fairly amazed on my own when the extent was over as a result of there was no method I may ever do one thing like that in another recreation. You too can run across the ranges fairly quick and make the most of sliding and leaping ways to drag off much more insane combos.
When you have performed Superhot, think about the gameplay, however time by no means stops, and you must do every part in real-time. That is I Am Your Beast. I’m nonetheless a bit shocked at how nice it feels to do all of this in real-time with out feeling a bit of stiff or exhausting to regulate, however Unusual Scaffold figured it out, and it elevates the sport above many different shooters due to it.
There may be some replayability with the degrees as nicely. You possibly can speedrun to strive ending the degrees faster, full completely different aspect aims for every degree, and partake in Problem maps to check your talent. For no matter cause, I used to be not capable of entry the Problem maps, and making an attempt to decide on one introduced me again to the extent choice menu (this occurred on completely different gadgets and isn’t a particular Steam Deck concern). They would not let me choose the rest until I went again to the primary menu and went again in. I do like having extra cause to return, and making an attempt to enhance particular ranges is welcome, however I might like to see one thing like a leaderboard to check with mates.
There may be going to be post-launch content material that was introduced, like extra ranges, a no-timer mode, and the flexibility to tear your scope off of sniper rifles, however I might say the sport is price getting even earlier than this. I might have cherished to see these further options, however the recreation does really feel full in itself and a pleasure to replay to only full ranges quicker and people aspect aims.
Whereas I do love the sport, it’s sadly not the perfect expertise on the Steam Deck.
I Am Your Beast – Steam Deck Efficiency
Whereas I like the precise recreation, I discover the efficiency on the Steam Deck a bit of more durable to like. I Am Your Beast is finest performed as easily as doable and calls for a better framerate. Sadly, the sport suffers a bit on this class. Making an attempt to play out of the field, we’re met instantly with drops from 60 and a few body pacing spikes. They’re small however a lot simpler to really feel in a recreation like this. Even setting the framerate decrease did not repair it fully, and whereas it was extra secure, there have been spots of drops right here and there.
The sport continues to be playable, and I loved it, but it surely is not as nice because it may very well be on extra highly effective gadgets due to the efficiency. The battery drain will typically stay round 10W – 12W, however some ranges will deliver it as much as the 18W – 19W vary, although this is not tremendous frequent.
Accessibility
You possibly can change a large number of various settings in I Am Your Beast. You possibly can change the sector of view, your bobbing forwards and backwards, some visible impact depth, crosshair, audio settings, digicam sensitivity, toggling computerized dash and gyro, moving into goal and crouch mode, and altering keybindings.
There isn’t any 16:10 decision assist, however we do have controller and cloud saves! There are not any HDR settings.
Conclusion
I Am Your Beast is an unimaginable expertise that I discover myself hooked on. The fast-paced fight and John Wick-style talents to kick, seize weapons out of the air, shoot, throw, and extra, all in tandem whereas sliding round and making an attempt to finish aims, are extraordinarily addicting. Blended with the unbelievable soundtrack, nice visuals, and distinctive storytelling (with unbelievable voice appearing) actually brings every part collectively into a beautiful time that I wholeheartedly suggest. It is exhausting to justify it fully on the Steam Deck as a result of efficiency points, however I feel it is nonetheless pleasurable and playable in case you are prepared to drop the framerate.
Our assessment relies on the PC model of this recreation.
Should you loved this assessment, you’ll want to take a look at the remainder of the content material on SteamDeckHQ! We have now all kinds of recreation opinions and information which can be certain to assist your gaming expertise. Whether or not you are on the lookout for information, ideas and tutorials, recreation settings and opinions, or simply wish to keep up-to-date on the most recent developments, we have your again.
