I See Red Review (Switch & PC)

I’m on a vengeful journey to obliterate my enemies of charcoal and crimson, frequently alternating between two schools of thought, one of them being a slightly woeful affair, and the other being a bleak reminder of how my moral compass has depleted since embarking on this dubious quest. This conquest, or at least, this pilgrimage that I’m taking to the bitter end, isn’t one for the faint of heart; it’s a tale of blood, bone, and brutality — and I’m bathing in it. No, I’m drowning in it—to the extent that I’m no longer thinking what’s morally correct, but what I might be capable of achieving should I reach the final hurdle at the apex of this monochrome slate. At this moment, I’m no longer a disgraced police officer; I’m an advocate for justice, and I don’t plan on stopping. I See Red, and I’m taking full advantage of it.

At its core, I See Red is an isometric twin-stick shooter that harkens back to the impenetrable realm of vigorous combat encounters, creatively timed combos, and bottomless corridors of rogue-like progression systems and upgradable assets. With its signature black, red, and white color scheme in tow, the game bears the hallmark qualities of an intense and oftentimes twisted adventure with all of the trappings of a memorable experience. Visually, it stands out as a unique piece of art with a lot of neo-Gothic elements of its own, but that is but one thing of note in an entire melting pot of moving pieces. The question is, does the rest of it strive to reach the same benchmark? Let’s talk about it.

I See Trees of Green

Well, not really. In fact, what I can see, other than the litter of violent thugs amounting to a mass grave before me, is a story that doesn’t contain all that many noteworthy components. To put it simply, I See Red revolves around a cop-turned-vigilante character who, in a bid to thwart his oppressor’s intergalactic prowess in the aftermath of a “horrifying” event, embarks on a vengeful mission to explore vast swathes of orbital spaceships and banish those who stand in his path. This plot, which doesn’t feature any major dialogue or text, depicts its narrative through the lens of cutaway cards and the occasional BOOM, POW, WHACK throwaway. In other words, its story is more of an afterthought than the primary focal point.

Speaking of focal points, I See Red is all about its twin-stick combat—a timeless configuration that allows players to alternate between running, gunning, and allocating weapons to complement other forms of full-frontal assaults. There are traditional weapons, items, and of course, a grappling hook, with the latter allowing you to pull, swing, and brutally execute foes in a swift and often stylish manner. There are also skill trees, passive abilities, and other areas of interest to develop your repertoire of techniques, effectively making it a true, if not slightly predictable rogue-like experience. Honestly, I can’t complain about any of that. Sure, it’s a clone of countless other incarnations, but it serves as a testament to the timeless saying of, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Beam Me Up, Scotty

I See Red is a rogue-like adventure, which means that, while you can make headway on your objectives in the early phases of the campaign, you must die in order to progress deeper into its lore. For example, the first romp to the galaxy sees you with limited resources, skills, and combat abilities. However, the more you succumb to the threats, the more you begin to learn, unlock, and evolve various traits, weapon slots, and passive skills. And, with each new turn that you take into this sci-fi world, you gradually begin to discover the true meaning behind its existence, as well as your purpose in its future. Again, the story itself isn’t all that great — but it rewards you for taking the initiative to unearth its pockets of side lore.

Given the fact that this is, of course, a rogue-like with all of the familiar trappings, the game does require a bit of patience. In the initial breakthrough stage, for instance, you don’t have access to the plethora of resources that you have in the latter portions of the game, which means that you’ll need to slug through it several times over before it finally begins to shed its true colors. And sure, while this can be a bit of a pain in the backside, the game does benefit from an easy mode, which means that, while you are still likely to die and find yourself back at square one carrying out the same motions time and time again, the process isn’t quite nearly as mundane or threatening. Suffice it to say though that, if you’ve played through a rogue-like before, then you’ll probably know what to expect here.

I Will Have Vengeance

Whiteboard Games isn’t the descendant of a big-budget studio, so naturally, I See Red comes with a few issues. Well, mechanically speaking, there isn’t a great deal to wave the flag at; the prompts are responsive, as are the chains of combos that you swindle with your trusty grappling hook and other overcharged weapons. Regrettably, it took me a while to come to terms with the sheer chaos of it all, but that was mainly because there weren’t any helping hands to guide me through the process or position me in an appropriate spot for the next descent. But that was a teething period I was soon able to bypass, even though it did cost an arm and a leg to get there.

All in all, I See Red feels like a structurally sound twin-stick shooter, although it does frequently make certain actions like targeting, aiming, and using the grappling hook a little sticky and annoying to use. Perhaps this is just me nitpicking at this point, though it’s worth pointing out, nonetheless.

Verdict

I See Red is about as pleasant to watch unfold as it is to witness a moth honing in on a sacred flame. The combat, which flows as well as you’d expect it to, is the beating heart of this world, and not to mention the sole reason I found myself coming back to the campaign’s anchor point to start from scratch again and again. Sure enough, it did begin to grate on the soul after a set amount of expeditions, but with countless execution options, weapons, and passive abilities to keep the journey from faltering, it never felt as if I was replaying the same corridor each turn. And for a rogue-like, that’s about as much as you can ask for.

It goes without saying at this point, but clearly, numerous rogue-like installments on the market do certain things slightly better than I See Red. To say that it’s a picture-perfect poster child for the genre wouldn’t be entirely true, for it does occasionally slip into mediocre territory at the expense of its fairly unpredictable twin-stick controls. To that end, it felt as if a touchscreen might’ve been the preferred vessel of choice for this particular endeavor. A small thing, for sure, but nothing a little bit of elbow grease wouldn’t be able to fix in a future patch.

Whiteboard Games’ passion for its chosen craft is commendable, to say the least. And while I See Red isn’t likely to go down as the most memorable twin-stick shooter of all time, it will, on the other hand, pull on the heartstrings of those with an unshakable desire to onboard anything that resembles its finer qualities.