A religious order called the One Concern has overthrown the government and now aims to harness the power of Ivory – a naturally-occurring liquid that they consider sacred – for their own nefarious reasons. Anyone with a knowledge of machinery is seen as a major threat to their cause, and mechanics are highly despised. Of course, your role is to play a mechanic (a young girl named Robin), helping members of a conflicting group to fight back against the One Concern. That’s very much a brief summary of a convoluted and nonsensical sci-fi-esque plot that many players may find themselves skipping past sooner rather than later, but thankfully there are no such issues in the gameplay department.
In yet another 2D Metroidvania game, players travel through a beautifully colourful pixel art world backed by a catchy upbeat soundtrack, exploring various locations to learn new skills which allow access to further areas. Armed with an upgradeable gun and wrench, Robin must fight her way through armies of monsters and navigate a variety of environmental puzzles as she tries to put an end to the One Concern’s plans.
Iconoclasts places a heavy emphasis on these platforming puzzles, and figuring out how to approach each obstacle can be fiendishly tricky at times. You might first need to find a key, locate a lost soul who will thank you with a weapon upgrade, or defeat a boss to earn a blueprint, unlocking one of several useful “tweaks”.
Tweaks are passive skills that give Robin a variety of bonuses like protection from damage or enhanced attack power. Once crafted, three tweaks can be equipped at any one time, although they gradually break as Robin takes damage. While not quite as involved as some of the levelling systems or skill trees found in other games, this provides a decent substitute for the lack of the usual RPG elements that might usually be associated with the genre.
The graphics and sound might be slightly at odds with the weighty narrative, but Iconoclasts does enough with its gameplay to be consistently engaging and enjoyable throughout its 10+ hour campaign. Well worth seeking out, especially for anyone with an interest in weird cults and crazy sci-fi. Isn’t that all of us?
ICONOCLASTS / DEVELOPER: JOAKIM SANDBERG / PUBLISHER: BIFROST ENTERTAINMENT / PLATFORM: NINTENDO SWITCH (REVIEWED), PC, PLAYSTATION 4, XBOX ONE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
