holoz0r's A-Z of Steam: Deadcore

Deadcore is a game in my Steam library that sits there, like many others, without any context at all. The game is quick to load, quick to play, and built for speed. There's not much more than that, apart from the obvious fact that this game is exactly what my nightmares manifest as in the gaming world.

This game is a giant first-person jumping puzzle.

You begin at the bottom of a vast spire, made of disconnected platforms, blocks, and other elements that float in the sky, defying gravity.

Unlike the environment, which does defy gravity, your character does not. They are subject to the whims of this universal force.

As a result, you fall. You fall down a lot.

At least the game has regular checkpoints at which you can save, and respawn at when and where you fail to make a jump.

You will fail to make many jumps.

Deadcore is a game about timing every jump, every shot, and every movement with a high level of precision. As a result, there's a fair amount of cadence to the gameplay that resembles a dance.

It is a slick game which runs well, but it is not my sort of game. It combines everything I hate about the platformer genre, which distills a sense of anxiety within me:

• Make this jump
• If you fail, you'll start again
• Time this perfectly
• If you fail, you'll start again
• Bad luck, you failed
• Start again.

This is the gameplay loop of a platformer and it will never be any fun at all.