I have been very excited for this title ever since the publisher Ratalaika Games announced that they are working on porting the game for consoles. The developer Stately Snail has had a previous title published by Ratalaika games release, being One more dungeon which has heavy rogue-like elements and was a fairly decent game with a good bit of difficulty.
Shadow of Loot Box is a first-person shooter about micropayments, loot boxes, cut content and everything we "love" in modern video games.If you always thought that there were too few loot boxes in other games, this game is for you! Shadow of Loot Box is an attempt to present what video games can become in the near future. Each level of this shooter is a reference to a popular trend in the modern game development industry. Will you be able to overcome the thorny path full of microtransactions, loot boxes and bugs, resisting the temptation to use the in-game store? The general way to get through most of the levels is to find a key or multiple keys to get to the portal and move on to the next level.
Now the core concept of this game is simple, shoot the lootboxes! Such a big problem in the industry now is lootboxes and the way company's use them to make as much money from us as possible. Well this game has an interesting take on how to deal with them and its simply amazing the way its executed. The main thing that will draw you to this title is not its gameplay. Infact the gunplay isn't that smooth to begin with, that's such a fundamental part of a good first person shooter. What will draw you to this game is its level design, And the way it makes fun of everything wrong in the gaming industry right now. Firstly the way the game uses its in-game store to make certain levels easier just like microtransactions in all our favorite games does. Other than that there are other things in the game, there is a pre-pre alpha level that's basically a level with no textures. Theres also a level that has "cut content" so the level can be finished instantly. There are so many others but I feel that needs to be experience first hand. I just love throughout the game they make fun of developers and of course themselves.
While the games strong point is the level design it does have its problems. The game does not have any replayablitie, once you have finished the game for the first time there is no reason to play it again. Also the game looks like Stately Snail previous title, although it does look improved on but I feel better graphics would have done this game some justice.
This game is basically a love letter to everything that's bad in the gaming industry. Its just the developers saying "sometimes we mess and that's okay" and it made the game an enjoyable experience. That's what made it worth it was the experience, while a does have a few issues it was definitely worth the experience and you should grab it for just that.
I rate this 8/10
