Scouring desolate planets and traversing precarious terrain is the core gameplay hook in The Come Up. Playing as a teenager who recently woke up from a cryosleep, your job as an explorer is to scout and research foreign planets. Most explorers’ planets are uninhabited. You are not so lucky. You must be vigilant; the native lifeforms and malicious geography are both out to get you.
The Come Up takes gameplay cues from the Metroidvania genre, meaning abundant power-ups and upgrades, as well as heavy exploring and heavy backtracking. While the majority of titles within this genre are 2-D, the explorable space in The Come Up is completely 3-D. Having to utilize vertical and horizontal space is a heavy burden that is executed with grace. The floaty jumps make platforming and navigating a welcome challenge.
Your explorer is equipped with a L10n-O mechanical suits. There are various upgrades to this suit to be found on the explorable planets, including a jet-pack, thrust boosters and even wings. With more upgrades come more reachable areas, which net more upgrades, and so on and so forth.
The simple textured, cell shaded art style works well with the vast planets. Keeping the playable areas distinct and separate, yet not gaudy. However, The Come Up is still in a very early stage. Bugs are sure to come up, like the stretching death animation. None of the bugs that I experienced are game breaking. For a free download, it is well worth the time spent.
Sign up for the beta on the game’s website.
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