ROOT

ROOT can be contentious game, but if you set your expectations accordingly it rather succeeds than fails as a project between 2 ever-barren niches - 90s virtual reality aesthetics and stealth focused gameplay. If the former is already enough to tickle your cyberfancy roll up your sleeves - we got the neuromod_virus to boot while it's still stalled in the mainframe.

D:\>SHΞLL/OF/A/PLOT

Since the year is 2015 you step into the shoes of some hackerman looking like a SNOWDΞN_M▲N, but he essentially IS a H A C K E R so it changes absolutely nothing.., well aside from a tiny fact that your character is (as good as a mannequin) your avatar accompanied by the partner in cybercrime named SHELL. You two are chasing some evil sys. admin in charge of the other programs - that's sums up the "story" element i doubt you even expected from a game like this. For what it's worth, the whole main quest is choke full of witty banter with your system assistant. Info links are written in vein of harmless self-aware quips which are just hit or miss at their worst. I mostly enjoyed it. As a welcome handshake ROOT uses Blood Dragon-alike tutorial overturning you with a clever in-game joke as it's finishing note while the epilogue itself is a witty reference to The Stanley Parable, so yeah - that's a laugh for a buck in my perception axis. One thing i do not like in this vague blueprint of a plot is total absence of the antagonist in the flesh, because it's pretty much inclined that you cross swords with him. If the devs cared they could have developed a male version of Shodan, but alas, he is behind the scenes.

►CYBΞRGRID.HOLΞ◀

Once you are plugged into the system without all that info link gibberish your eyes are greeted with pleasingly distinct art direction. It's forefronted by striking minimalism:
Programs are red
Coded objects are green
Mainframe wireframe is blue,
And so are you.
Well, for the most part aside from occasional color alterations. Visuals are not that original and in fact - reminiscent of Frozen Synapse dilogy, the only major difference is the sheer glow of it all making the game even prettier due to proper use of Unity's shader system. I also really love that some of the objects like office cubicles are transparent allowing you to spot enemies – the graphics can be both functional and stylish. Although i can't shake off the thought that it looks like vaseline cyberpunk of sorts (makes me coin it as vaselinepunk).

On the flipside, looks are not picture perfect, because the visuals slightly contradict with the art. One might think ROOT has learned something from Tron 2.0, which is still the most exemplary iteration of cyberspace in any game, however this version of virtual reality feels like Frozen Synapse is forced into real world environments. Rooms are jam-packed with somewhat plausible object placements as if you are playing an immersive sim prototype, however there are no lore-tied things to justify this abundance of misleadingly notable things which is a shame since these places are certainly nodding to Deus Ex; the amount of vents alone will make Adam Jensen jealous. At times i wanted to go sideways in search of something worthy of my exploration just to find another not necessarily useful shortcut and some rare boomboxes ironically serving as collectable items for the achievement.
Besides, we are talking about cybergrid after all, there is no need for it be modeled as something almost real. ROOT is a tad overwhelming to traverse through since for some arbitrary reason the game lacks color distinction to it's levels akin to Tron 2.0. Everything aside from the epilogue is blue-green-red making it easier to get lost. Anyways, our digital path leads to gameplay...

DiGiT▲L_MURDΞR *.* A: /V

ROOT shapes up to be Tron 2.0 which shakes hands with Thief series and puts a grain of Deus Ex into this relationship. Unfortunately, aside from basic gameplay similarities it doesn’t try hard enough to go toe to toe with neither of that classics, but i find it enjoyable nonetheless.

As a cyberterrorist or crypto anarchist (whatever suits your ego) you bent your knees on decently non-linear levels. Similar to Thief a stealth takedown can be performed by clubbing the back of opponent's head. Foes will wake up eventually, but in most cases you will be in a vent by this time. And yes - it's possible to create improvised ladders out of the boxes (Deus Ex: HR style), but the clunky physics will make it harder to do so. Almost each level requires you to find proper keycards for certain doors, so it's nice to be able to pickpocket guards.

Basic bots can have shotguns, shields and helmets. Soon they will be complimented by blind, but movement-sensitive spiders and even tall orcs capable at selling you for organs. Midget ones are incredibly annoying, if they spot you all the nearby enemies will be alerted - pretty much a death sentence. And then there are ghosts immune to the stealth bludgeon, chasing you right through walls and doing tough to dodge heavy hits. Near the end there are also moderately hard boss fights - fortunately, not interfering with your stealth progress.

You will get your 1st gun early on, but even on a gaming journalist difficulty the hackerman can die faster than average citizen of Venezuela. That's because the game's combat is not reliant on action. Instead of adequate projectile-recoil ballisticts, huge arsenal and enemy squads with readible, fair coordination shootouts are helmed by suicidal AI resiliant to anything aside from headshots. But hey, they are just security programs, so that's fine. What's not fine entirely is the laser accuracy of only three guns, hence the cyber reality, i guess. Combat is snappy due to a dash ability and a sick kick. When FPS works with stealth in tandem it can be cool to pave your way with third degrees, but it's not satisifying to divide them. If you wanna experience smth similar in the fullest Severed Steel got you covered on that.

//IN.CONCLUSION()

ROOT is a good game that is hampered by the laziness of the developers. Maybe i am not that jaded to smash it despite some of the achievements which are impossible to do without getting your fingers bent the wrong way back. After all there are not enough cybergrid games out there, let alone with a couple of decent ideas. It even had mimic enemies before the 2017's Prey. And these trappings of proto-immersive sim are worth noting with stuff like hidden shotgun on the 3rd level. Just be sure to treat it like stealth-FPS to avoid neologic spasm.

D!XI