Ultra Indie Heads Up – Transience: Franz Kafka’s DOOM
Hello, you glorious gluttons for all things indie horror! Are you just starving for the newest of the new, the most unknownest of the unknown? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Welcome to the Ultra-Indie Heads Up! In this series, we’re going to steal DreadXP writer Jesse G.’s column, and pick a new game from an indie horror creator you’ve probably never heard of! No million-dollar budgets or factory productions. This is the space for the little guy with not but a developer toolkit and a dream. So if you’re down to roll the dice on something different, then stick around and check it out!
Transience, from Developer LovelyHellplace (Dread X Collection 1) is a strange, haunting exploration of a bug and machine-filled world, with maybe a couple of humans sprinkled in. You play as an unnamed genetic test, the result of the bug folks building a human. Another character describes you ” It’s as if someone has tried to grow a human, but with all the wrong DNA”. Your goal in this 15-20 minute strangefest is to explore the blasted and ruined world that lies beneath the hulking mass of flesh and machinery that you were born on, that is slowly floating around the earth.
This is not the earth that you’re used to, with most people having died some time ago, and the remnants of humanity clinging to religion and memories of the world that once was. As you travel the world, a man that is also an ant or fly or something asks you to kill his children, as they’ve become lazy and complacent. These children are represented as glowing insect heads kind of hidden throughout the world, that can be collected to increase your character’s jump height and speed. Using these enhanced abilities, you’ll be able to explore more of the map and find out just what you’re doing on earth. Hint: It’s actually pretty funny.
Transience presenets all of this is in a Build engine-style 2.5D, looking a bit like DOOM or Wolfenstein (the originals). The soundtrack is a driving soundscape that seems perfect for the world you’re exploring. As I said before, it takes only about 20 minutes to complete the game, and it has two endings based on a choice you can make late in the game. There is no combat, with the game focusing on interactions with bug folks and the remaining humans on earth. Also as you upgrade your character, you’ll be engaging in light platforming. The controls are tight and responsive, and I enjoyed my time on the ruined, hellish earth that we may have created for ourselves.
I guess you’ll find out if we did it when you go play Transience HERE.
