by Wait what? Relaxing Gore? Da fuck does that mean?! Trust me, it actually is. Its been a while since I chatted about a game and this is one I’ve been playing on and off. Its a great alternative to the typical FPS or survival sandbox games. So what makes this game so different? Lets get into it!
What happens after Alien vs Predator…
As it says in the title, this is a cleanup game. You are a space janitor, who goes into various facilities after some horrific incident and clean up what’s left. From sentient trees breaching containment and murdering all of the staff, to tunneling bugs making their way through a prison asteroid and eating all the inmates. Its your job to get in there and make it look like nothing happened.
Sounds relaxing doesn’t it? Still not convinced? What about if there are no enemies? Yep, that’s right. No enemies, just cleaning. Remember, all of this occurs after the horrendous incident. You are there to clean so the next batch of poor souls have no idea anything happened prior. And when you’ve done a thorough job, head over to the time clock and guiltlessly punch out! Afterwards, you will receive a grade on how well you cleaned. Hopefully you don’t get fired!
How do you get Gore Stains off of Ceramic Tile?
So, how do you hide all the evidence? Burn it all of course! No seriously. The main mechanic for cleaning up in this game is to put anything dirty into a furnace. Guts, limbs, bodies, both human and alien, go into the furnace. Not only organic material, trash items too like soda cans, bags of chips, bullet casings, shot gun shells, and crumpled pieces of paper. To make things easier, you can go to a What-A-Load Dispenser and get yourself a waste bin. It’s better to load all of the residue into a bin and throw it into the furnace all at once.
The other item in the game that makes things just a tad easier is the push broom. Usually, a space marine isn’t concerned with collecting their bullet brass when an alien that is trying to eat them. With the broom, its easy to make a nice pile of casings, and throw them all into a waste bin.
After you collect all the filth and incinerate it. It’s a good idea to clean up any fluids they would have left behind. That’s where your mop and bucket come in. You can get buckets from the Slosh-O-Matic to dunk your mop into after loading it up with blood and goo. However, every mop cleaning means your bucket water gets dirtier. So once it can’t take on any more just toss it in the furnace. Also, be careful where you step. Walking into a pool of blood, you might track some on your shoes, so keep your mop handy!
If you feel like being an Over Achiever…
Once you are done cleaning up with the obvious mess, its time to move onto the more subtle cleanup. You wouldn’t want the next batch of researchers coming into the facility and seeing bullet holes everywhere right? In that case, grab your Plasma Welder and burn out those holes! By zapping the holes with enough heat, you can melt the surface of the floor/wall/ceiling back to its original state.
Moreover, personal might get suspicious if they notice all the med kits are all gone. It’s a good idea to head over to the equipment dispenser, grab a fresh kit and load any used stations in the facility. Just make sure to close the container on the wall, no need to have them wondering why it was even open in the first place 🙂
And if you really feel like getting an A+++
You really want extra credit? Well then, start stacking up the various barrels and crates you find into their designated locations. This is not needed to complete the level, but it will get you some extra points. Putting you closer to a passing grade in the event you missed something.
But, if you are paranoid about missing anything, make sure to use your trusty Sniffer tool! This baby can pickup any gore or garbage in a 2 mile radius. Well that last part might not be true, but it does help you locate anything you might have missed. Like a little metal detector, the sniffer beeps louder and more frequently the closer you are to the nasty.
You can also bust out your data pad and log notes on any corpses you find. On the time clock, you can log how each individual died and any other relevant information. You can also pick up each persons ID tag and log it into the clock. By doing this and cleaning up well, there is a good chance your final grade will be over 100%. It really up to you for how much of an over achiever you want to be.
The Federation always hands out Shit Equipment!!
Remember earlier when I said that there are no enemies in the game? I may have lied a bit… There is one enemy (other than your own perfectionist mind!). Your Equipment. Yep, that’s right, the tools you use are your worst enemy.
Take the JHARM for example. It is a scissor lift, meant to help you get to those high to reach places. But only when it works… There is a high chance that it will jam on the way up or the way down. Worse yet, if you plan on bringing a bucket or a waste container with you, you’ll want to hang onto it. Because there is a chance that the lift will error, causing it to shoot up at max height, throwing you and whatever you are bringing into the ceiling. Hopefully the bucket that spilled was a clean one, because if not all that organic ooze will be waiting for you on the way down.
But the Blood and Gore just keeps coming!!!
Yeah, you might want to be careful about grabbing that new bucket or waste container. Just like the JHARM randomly putting up a fight, you can expect the Slosh-O-Matic and What-A-Load to do the same. But not quite the same. Instead of operating irrationally, the dispensers will sometimes dispense…. body parts… Yep. When you are expecting a bucket, sometimes you get a leg. When you need a container, have a pile of gore instead. The good news is the equipment dispenser isn’t as harsh but that doesn’t mean its any less annoying! Instead of gore, you get a random chance at receiving an advertisement instead of equipment.
Finally there is the Plasma Welder. While its a life saver for getting bullet holes and claw marks out, it might also be the reason why you are cleaning for an extra hour. If you let the welder run for too long, there is a good chance you will start a fire. That fire is energized and it will run along the surface being welded. Right behind it, is a trail of soot, that you now have to clean up… Sometimes that fire burns for a few seconds, sometimes its only one fire. Pray that its not the other end of that scenario 😀
That Feeling putting a Waste Container of Gore in the Furnace….
Feeling relaxed yet? Did I convince you that Gore can be relaxing? What if I also mentioned that this game has a silly yet fun OST. I actually listened to it the whole time while writing this post. Well a few times, it took me a while to write this and the whole album is about 30min.
Anyway, this game has been a great stress relief. Good for those that get overwhelmed when they encounter massive projects. When its hard to break things down into smaller pieces. Sometimes, you just got to pick a room, pick a corner, roll up your sleeves, and get to it. Before you know it, the room is done and you move onto the next one. After that, the whole floor is clean, then the whole building, then the planet. Ok I went too far but you get the idea. If only I can take the fun I have in this game and translate it to cleaning my house in real life… I guess that’s why I own a Roomba 😛
I’ve probably missed a bunch of content in this post but you can read more in detail in the games wiki or just try it for yourself! Support those indie developers, help them keep making these weird genres! Oh and if any devs happen to read this… this game in VR would be a total cash grab, just sayin!
All right yall, I’ve stalled long enough, next series of posts will be 3D printing stuff again. I’ve made some major upgrades and have been procrastinating on writing about it.
Keep it clean!! Until next time! 😀