Main game
2.60 average rating based on 5 ratings
I have very mixed feelings about this game.
Starting with the positives: Void/Breaker is genuinely beautiful. You can't take that away from it. Even though, realistically, you rarely have time to admire the scenery - this is an FPS roguelike shooter, after all. The combination sounds intriguing, but unfortunately, I found more downsides than upsides.
The game is developed by a single person, and that explains a lot. I respect solo developers and I'm willing to forgive many things because of that. Sadly, in this case, not everything can be excused.
The first major issue is weapon variety. I completed the entire game… using the starting pistol. I'm honestly not even sure whether there are other real weapons in the game. Technically, you can buy an assault rifle, but I beat the game on my first run with the default pistol alone. For a shooter, that's not exactly exciting - and in practice, it really feels that way.
The game features a modifier system - essentially, you can stuff your body with various upgrades. But all the weapon variety I experienced boiled down to different firing modes and ammo types… for the pistol. The game desperately lacks weapons, and it …
I have very mixed feelings about this game.
Starting with the positives: Void/Breaker is genuinely beautiful. You can't take that away from it. Even though, realistically, you rarely have time to admire the scenery - this is an FPS roguelike shooter, after all. The combination sounds intriguing, but unfortunately, I found more downsides than upsides.
The game is developed by a single person, and that explains a lot. I respect solo developers and I'm willing to forgive many things because of that. Sadly, in this case, not everything can be excused.
The first major issue is weapon variety. I completed the entire game… using the starting pistol. I'm honestly not even sure whether there are other real weapons in the game. Technically, you can buy an assault rifle, but I beat the game on my first run with the default pistol alone. For a shooter, that's not exactly exciting - and in practice, it really feels that way.
The game features a modifier system - essentially, you can stuff your body with various upgrades. But all the weapon variety I experienced boiled down to different firing modes and ammo types… for the pistol. The game desperately lacks weapons, and it feels like the developers tried to compensate for this by overloading the pistol with modifiers.
There is an excellent environmental destruction system, and credit where it's due - it's impressive. This ties into the stagger system: if debris from destroyed buildings (or other objects) hits an enemy, they get staggered, take increased damage, and upon death drop ammo and medkits. You can destroy objects using grenades, which have a short cooldown.
And here lies a massive problem: it feels like destroying objects and throwing grenades is simply more effective than shooting enemies. That's an extremely questionable design choice for a shooter.
In practice, instead of actually shooting, you spend most of your time luring enemies under buildings and blowing up the environment. This genuinely confused and frustrated me.
As for the length of the game - it took me 106 minutes to beat it in one uninterrupted run, on my first attempt. Well… yes, it's made by one developer. Yes, it's in early access. But lately, I hear those two excuses so often that they've stopped sounding like justification and started sounding like the norm.
The game clearly has potential, but there are design decisions I simply can’t accept - no matter how much I want to. A roguelike that you finish once, on your first attempt, and feel no urge to replay is a problem.
Article: Breaking Out Of The System by Matt Miller
Void/Breaker feels like an intriguing hybrid between the aesthetics of Tron alongside the pacing and sense of speed you find in modern Doom games. It’s a heady mix made more compelling by the fun loop of enemy staggering and health recovery that can pull victory in a battle from the jaws of defeat. The game is still growing and expanding as it steers toward final release, but I’m happy to offer a glowing recommendation for this early access version, which has plenty of content and engaging fun to be worth the price of admission.