While browsing through the new Steam releases, I came across an unusual indie game called QUICKN. Unusual both in its graphics and in its gameplay when compared to other games of the genre. A single indie dev recently released this project on Steam, and while it doesn’t have many reviews at the moment, it’s worth taking a look at.
QUICKN is a top-down shooter offering bright neon colors and dynamic action, not unlike Hotline Miami. Perhaps, not as detailed or as focused on the story, but the core gameplay and music have made me think fondly of this game anyhow.
In this game, you play as a small ball for your hero. Log into the system and set out to discover and destroy various bugs and errors while also avoiding pitfalls. As far as the plot is concerned, this is about it.
However, there’s more to talk about when it comes to gameplay. As I mentioned above, QUICKN made me fondly remember the hurricane levels of Hotline Miami while featuring a graphics style similar to simplified TRON. You will rush through the level, employing a large variety of weapons to destroy your enemies – when the dev promised that there are many weapons and many enemies, he wasn’t lying or making things up.
Ten guns with alternate firing mode (which, essentially, amounts to 20 weapon choices) will help you take on the enemies that require their own tactics to be brought down. Each enemy type behaves differently from the others, although overall AI is not exactly crafty. However, they can still give you trouble if you just decide to tackle them head-on.
Each enemy manages to bring its own problems and mechanics to the game, be it slowing you down, or trying to get up close and personal only to chop you down in melee. Others yet will spin around and become invulnerable for a period or time. To successfully finish the game, you will need to memorize these patterns for enemies and how to get the maximum out of the available weapons.
Even more so, at the end of each stage that consists of five or six mini-levels, there’s going to be a boss that will test how well you have adapted and learned. Each boss has their own attacks, behavior and combat phases.
The game levels look like they stepped out of TRON, a lot of neon and curved maps that you will get to explore during your stay in QUICKN. There are a few of them for each stage, containing enemies, ammo and secrets. Speaking of them, the secrets in the game are quite well-hidden, finding them all will be quite a challenge.
To proceed, you will need to clear out enemies in your path, find keys to unlock the doors that block your progress, or commit other actions such as avoiding a laser in the racing level or just zerg-rushing mobs to capture a specific point.
In addition to the ammo for weapons, health and shield packs, you will also find destructible objects, explosive barrels and various zones and items that can be and should be used to pass further, doing so correctly adds quite a bit of fun to the game.
Now, onto certain drawbacks of the game. Having played through QUICKN a couple of times, I can say that the game has its shortcomings, but they can be understood with the project being the product of a solo indie developer.
The stages themselves are fun to play through at first, but later (stages 3+) they feel drawn out, losing the drive and the speed of the early levels. Boss battles turn the game into some kind of top-down tactical shooter with the amount of neon and the speed at which the level map rotates causing mild nauseous feelings. There are no stable positions on your monitor, QUICKN is constantly in motion.
It is clear that the developer tried to make his own TRON with an abundance of neon lights, but the game needs more details to spread it out a bit.
I want to speak about the OST separately, the music is very pleasant and fits the atmosphere and the theme of the game perfectly. QUICKN also features interesting gameplay that stays addictive despite losing its drive in the later stages.
If you manage to get used to the hurricane turns and spins of the map, the gameplay will suck you right in. QUICKN is worth paying attention to if you like unusual indie games and don’t get motion-sick too easily.
- Note: the Steam game code was provided for free for the purposes of this article;
- Similar to: Hotline Miami;
