Loopmancer Review (PC)

very good
key review info
  • Game: Loopmancer
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: Yes  
  • Reviewed on:
Loopmancer key art

Slashes from my katana keep two enemies in check, constantly delivering hits that take health and stagger them. Another opponent comes in from the left, which forces me to abandon my attack, jump over him, slide back and use my shotgun to push the entire group back before I unleash some lightning from my cyber arm implant. It’s easy enough to deal with these low-level enemies but I need to find at least one terminal that can restore my health before I face a mini boss that will test my endurance.

Loopmancer is developed by eBrain Studio and published by Xu. I played the game on the PC using Steam, but players can also get it on the Nintendo Switch, the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X and S, and older devices from Sony and Microsoft.

The title mixes action and rogue elements with a detective story. Xiang Zixu is our hard-boiled protagonist, with a dark past and a need to get revenge on the people that took his daughter from him. He goes after an underworld boss and gets himself killed but he wakes up at the start of the day, retaining his memories, stuck in a loop until he can make the right decisions and kill the right people.

Set in the near future, Loopmancer is set in a cyberpunk world where cybernetic enhancements are common, and tech sometimes delivers close to magical results. The writing aims for depth, but it hits every beat of the genre without making any of the characters feel authentic. It’s fun to push forward for the twists.

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The gameplay is centered around exploration and combat. Xiang Zixu is a capable fighter, able to wield a primary melee weapon and a ranged one, while also delivering strikes from his cyber arm. A stamina-fueled dodge move keeps our hero out of harm’s way. It takes a little time to figure out how to mix all these options together.

But once that happens, battles are fast and deadly. I tended to prioritize dodging and double jumping to stay away from enemies when they launch into their attack routines, before closing in to take them down. The ranged weapon is to get out of hairy situations and for boss battles.

Exploration is a little weird, especially given that levels are slightly different each time you push through them. Xiang Zixu can double jump and has a hook move, limited to pre-positioned points. They give the illusion of freedom but most progress is pretty linear. Throughout the levels, players will interact with terminals, important to regain health, as well as weapons and abilities. The pocket money of defeated enemies needs to be invested to unlock them before Xiang can pick them up and use them.

When our hero dies, he returns to his apartment, retaining his memory of events as well as upgrades and unlocks. Armed with them, he can plunge right back into the fray. The structure is classic rogue-lite: move through the loop, gain more knowledge and resources, make some progress, die, repeat.

The biggest issue with Loopmancer is that it takes a lot of currency to unlock weapons and, at first, it’s hard to know which are suited to a player’s style. The other stumbling block is special enemies and bosses. It’s relatively easy to learn how to deal with normal mobs by mixing and matching types of attacks and careful evasion.

Dealing with the more powerful foes is harder, which creates tension and a sense of accomplishment but also leads to a lot of protagonist death. The game’s narrative needs to grab players to allow them to push through the frustration, to learn, unlock, and take down the tougher bosses.

Loopmancer can deliver some very impressive vistas, a solid take on its cyberpunk world, and has action sequences that flow well. The many cutscenes (feel free to make liberal use of the skip option when they repeat) lack the detail to be truly impressive. The voice acting is adequate, but the enemy barks quickly become annoying. The soundtrack mostly stays in the background, failing to add to the immersion.

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The Good

  • Solid combat mechanics
  • Detective and cyberpunk mix
  • Cool visual touches

The Bad

  • No attempts at innovation
  • Limited rogue-lite system
  • Mediocre voice acting

Conclusion

Loopmancer is a good game for gamers who want a very specific experience: a mix of action and rogue ideas that tells a cyberpunk-themed detective story. The combat mechanics require time to master and there are solid challenges to engage with. The rogue aspects are a little underdeveloped and it feels like unlocking weapons requires too much money.

But the game never tries to innovate in any of the spaces it is working in. It has no ambition other than to deliver a good mix of ideas that can keep players engaged. I wanted to see a cool twist on the cyberpunk future or combat mechanics that expands genres. Loopmancer is a solid experience that never becomes more than its parts.

Review code provided by the publisher.

story 8
gameplay 8
concept 9
graphics 8
audio 8
multiplayer 0
final rating 8
Editor's review
very good
 

Loopmancer screenshots (21 Images)

Loopmancer key art
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