Meddle in the affairs of others, control their minds in Randall

Freedom fighter

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Clerks has a scene where Randal Graves, an irresponsible and indifferent video store employee, tells a customer that he finds it best to stay out of other people’s affairs. The laissez-faire approach isn’t a noble attempt to keep from interfering; he just doesn’t want to put forth the effort to help anyone.

That’s how Randal feels, but it’s the opposite of Randall’s approach. Adding an “L” makes a world of difference. Randall is an action-platformer in which meddling in other people’s affairs is the main hook. In a brief demo at PAX Prime, we sat down with Mexico-based We The Force Studios and played Randall. It took a while to grasp the intricacies of gameplay, but the underlying concept is a worthwhile one.

Randall (releasing on PC, PS4, and Vita) takes place in a world where everyone’s been brainwashed by the authoritarian powers that be. A corporation has the citizens under its control, but the populace is completely unaware of the oppression at hand. We The Force wasn’t willing to go too far into the story, but hinted at a “bigger things are at play” angle.

One person is acutely aware of the oppression, however. That’s the titular Randall. In a “taste of your own medicine” type of twist, he’s trying to take down this faceless juggernaut through the use of mind control. It’s this mechanic that takes Randall from an action-platformer and injects a puzzle element into it too.

Rooms will often have a throng of enemies in them that need to be cleared out in a particular order. A rudimentary example was an area with one foe on the ground and two on platforms above who could shoot projectiles. Those platforms were unreachable from the floor, but if you controlled the bottom enemy, you could jump off of him and up to the top. Order of operations is important to figure out. It was obvious in that instance what needed to be done, but later encounters surely won’t be as telegraphed.

Most of these guys won’t just allow themselves to get taken over, though. They require a quick beat-down. This comes in the form of simple button-pressed combos. We were shown an earlier level, but there was a definite sense that tactics would have to be switched up as the game progresses.

That’s only half the battle. Studio head Cesar Ramirez Molina told us that the developer’s aiming for about a 50/50 split on combat and platforming. The platforming aspect isn’t as intuitive as it could be, and it took several deaths before I got the hang of it. There’s likely a better learning curve and teaching process in the full game than in the quick slice I played. Fortunately, Randall checkpoints graciously and there wasn’t too much lost progress.

There’s promise in Randall, but there’s more promise in what Randall represents. We The Force Studios is one of the few video game developers in Mexico. Currently, the scene is dominated by software and web developers. It’s a much safer prospect to follow the established market than to risk your family’s security pursuing what no one else is. That’s why We The Force was doing web development up until it made the bold decision that it wanted a legacy.

That’s why the team started creating games. Randall is its first project, and Molina lamented what a tough transition it has been. He spoke about how challenging it is to make a decision about gameplay and then have to do all the research to figure out exactly how to implement it. Seasoned developers already know the technical side, but Molina and his crew have learned most of it on-the-fly.

Randall is projected for a release sometime in 2016. It’s a loose window, but it needs to be considering that the studio’s inexperience possibly makes it more subject to delays than others. Regardless of when it launches and how it turns out, it’s admirable that We The Force went out on a limb to pursue a dream while sacrificing safety. Just like its protagonist, these developers are going against the grain and chasing what they believe in.


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Brett Makedonski
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