Imaginative Spooks: DXC2: Touched by an Outer God

Intro:

Still a girl.

Who doesn’t love Doom? But what if the Doom Marine could eat the body parts of the demons he destroys to become what he most fears? Also, the Doom Marine is a teenage girl who is looking for her kick-ass dad? Well, that is Touched by an Outer God! It’s also a rouge-like.

Caressed by Cthulhu:

You are, Melissa a teenager who is looking for her kick-ass dad in a world ravaged by an Alien force known as The Growth. She accidentally runs into some sort of cosmic entity and loses an arm for her trouble. But she soon finds herself with a gnawing hunger for Growth flesh. The overt narrative is limited (due to understandable time constraints) but the story that is there is nicely character-driven.

Lost an arm.

As you mutate and upgrade Melissa, she slowly becomes something less human. Her mental capacity, which starts as a teenager, speaking admirably of her rather and hoping fur survivors, becomes twisted into a thing so hideous that she is incapable of speech. The final boss is Melissa’s dad, who attacks her because he doesn't recognize his daughter. This is a fascinating concept that marries story and gameplay mechanics that could be a very powerful tragedy. The narrative is not strong enough to elicit strong emotional responses, however.

Continued

The game is split into several areas where enemies spawn in, after many waves the next area is unlocked. There is something of a roguelike to the design, where you have only one life and if you fail, then you have to restart the game back from the beginning. The upgrades are randomized to an extent. But you will process through them pretty quickly. The game is surprisingly difficult, as projectile comes fast and hit deceptively hard.

Evolving.

Twitch reflexes are key to surviving the bosses who; while not mechanically complex are defectively difficult in the rate of projectiles fired and impact. The combat is split between two functions, your right hand is melee combat and your left is for ranged. The upgrades you get can do anything from adding poison to your strikes to increasing the fire rate. They randomize after every selection but are very fun to use and offer a surprisingly wide range of play styles. Because you are progressively more powerful, there is not much in the name of scares, except maybe the body horror our protagonist accrues throughout the game.

Conclusion:

Touched by An Outer God is a fun, intense run and gun shooter that I hope becomes a full game later in down the line. I will keep an eye out for Wither Game’s other products.

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