#The persistence enhanced review upgrade#

What also makes the game that bit more unnerving is the darkness, as you're always finely balancing whether to use your flashlight or turn it off and stay hidden. Mutants also have a habit of running at you and screaming once they know where you are, and there are even times when faster, crawling mutants start coming out of the goddamn walls. You can take very few hits before you die - at least in the beginning - hence why stealth is key and every grunt and groan you hear is reason for concern. Curiosity killed the cat, as they say.Īs you might've guessed, this is more of a survival horror experience than a peaceful saunter through space, and the horror comes from your own vulnerability. Be careful of environmental dangers though, as snooping through all the hidden areas might lead you to some electrified floors or cabinets rigged with explosives. Of course this involves searching and scavenging your way through the ship to collect as many items as possible, but this doesn't just apply to items, as you'll need various currencies in the game to unlock upgrades at the workbenches on the ship, character upgrades back at the start, and craft weapons on your way. If a head-on assault isn't the answer there are other power-ups to help you tactically, including one that slows time and another that turns you invisible, so by collecting all these weapons and items you can quickly stop being mutant lunch. When you're not wielding a deadly weapon you have plenty of other bits and pieces to help you out, one of which are grenades which can prove especially useful when there are multiple enemies or giant hard-to-kill brutes. Balancing whether to use these weapons or save them for another time is key. The Lance, for example, is a two-handed club that instantly kills your regular grunts with a donk on the head, but you can also get a knife that is deadly but at the same time fragile and can't be used very often. As much as guns might sound like the dream choice here - and we're not denying they're damn effective - melee weapons are perhaps the best option since ammunition is scarce and stealth kills keep you safe and out of danger. Weapons are probably the most fun thing you'll find, and arguably the most useful.

#The persistence enhanced review upgrade#

However, as with any good roguelite there's soft progression, so you keep everything you've picked up and are free to upgrade as you wish providing you have the cash to splash, so after each run you can get slightly more powerful and therefore become much more likely to survive a bit longer.

What this creates is a loop that gives a narrative reason behind the roguelite nature of the game, as when you die you'll go back to the start where the cloning machine is located, losing most of the progression you've made in the ship. Yes, early in the story you come across your own dead body and are told that what you're currently using is a clone of yourself, and each time you die in the game another clone is summoned to keep the adventure going. Talk about a bad day.Īs with many other VR titles knocking about these days this puts you in the first-person perspective of a crewmember on board the ship (which is The Persistence of the title), except there's a twist: you're actually dead.

Now Firesprite Studios' PSVR game The Persistence is here to give you another reason to steer clear of space travel, except for this time it's because you're at risk of all your crew turning to bloodthirsty mutants as your ship is pulled slowly towards a black hole. If films like Alien have taught us anything, it's that being on a spaceship isn't a great idea because when things go wrong all the crew are enclosed in a confined space with nowhere to run.