ReCore is part of this family of games in which we manage to distinguish a potential, an idea, a background, something to save. An element which, after a few hours, is buried under a heap of recurring problems and marks the gaming experience much more durably. Developed in partnership between Comcept, therefore, the American studio Armature and the French Asobo, ReCore is takes place in the distant future of a few tens or even a few hundred years of our time. A major epidemic called the Hell of the Sands hit the Earth and Humanity decided to abandon its planet to survive. The only possible future is Alter-Eden, a planet which, after a few centuries of terraforming work, should be a real paradise. To spearhead this enterprise, the multinational Mandate sent entire teams of Orbots upstream, robots powered by orbs that also shape their behavior and personality. And to accompany them, a few cryogenic humans, whose role is to intervene in the event of a problem in the course of the terraforming. You are Joule Adams, a member of this team who must prepare the ground before the ships containing millions of human beings arrive on Alter-Eden. And obviously, there's going to be a problem that's going to snap you out of your long vigil.
LIKE A SCENT OF STAR WARS
This starting pitch is far from uninteresting, as is the rather intriguing background of the game. Without further introduction, Joule wakes up on Alter-Eden and we find ourselves propelled to a desert planet, dotted with rocky plateaus, strewn with wrecks vessels and mechanical debris. It must be admitted, the first hours of play are quite pleasantly reminiscent of the first appearances of Rey in Episode 7 of Star Wars. The sand, the loneliness, this feeling of being tiny in front of the gigantic pieces of cabins that partly shape the decor. A parallel all the more pronounced since Joule is also accompanied by a “droid”: Mack, her aide-de-camp Orbot, who takes the form of a mechanical dog. There is therefore something quite nice in these first hours, quite enigmatic too, in the sense that it is up to the player to reveal the few elements of the universe or the scenario by reading Joule's notes by obtaining audio recordings. However, we realize very quickly that all this has not been dug enough, that we would have liked to know more, that the narration is done over the leg, that everything is only very superficial. Above all, quite quickly, these few hours of discovery vanish to give way to the heart of the game, much more pragmatic. And much less folichon.ZELDA-LIKE LAMBDA
ReCore therefore takes the form of a Zelda-like, or a Darksiders to take a perhaps slightly closer reference; a mix of action and third person platforming. The map is divided into several large interconnected areas, punctuated by main and secondary dungeons. In short, very classic. We are therefore not dealing with a real open world, and we could say so much the better, each zone will only be more alive, more worked. But no. The few play areas are similar in all respects and respond to the description given above: sand, rocks, debris. Ditto for the dungeons which repeat the same generic decorative elements over and over again, without any of them really catching the eye or marking the mind. Again, we feel that the artistic direction would have deserved more work to achieve something satisfying, original. In short, something that stands out from dozens of other lambda productions of the same genre. Quite visually average, ReCore also succeeds in aligning a sometimes completely nebulous level-design with staggering technical problems: entire sections of textures that refuse to be displayed, surfaces through which Joule can pass, entire passages decors that slip away and leave a spectral void in their place.Mack will be able to dig in certain specific places to unearth objects, Seth will allow you to reach certain inaccessible places by clinging to vertical walls and Duncan will use his power to free certain passages.
There remains the Orbot, or rather the Orbots, since in addition to Mack, Joule will gradually add two other companions: Seth and Duncan, cans with different capacities that will prove their usefulness. during the exploration phases and during the confrontations with their congeners, probably gone into a spin. Mack will be able to dig in certain specific places to unearth objects, Seth will allow you to reach certain inaccessible places by clinging to vertical walls and Duncan will use his power to free certain passages. The whole remains very scripted, very agreed and does not bring much except for Seth, who really energizes the platforming phases. The fights are pretty much in the same vein. To do maximum damage, you must align the color of Joule's shot and the Orbot that accompanies it with that of the enemy robot (blue for Mack, yellow for Seth and red for Duncan). Once weakened, it is possible to steal his Orb via a fairly repetitive mini-game, in order to transform it into a flow to customize your Orbots in particular. A rather nice feature, but again much too superficial, too little varied and above all likely to unbalance the game quite violently.
