You wake up in a control tower in the middle of a barren desert landscape after a horrific pandemic wiped out nearly the entire population of the planet. When a dust storm rages on, the unpleasant sound of sand grains scraping against building windows is loud. You play the role of the Guardian – a Guardian – who is tasked with rebuilding the Earth’s population. You can do this by collecting DNA that has not been damaged by the pandemic. You take orders from creatures floating in terrariums, connected to several wires and tubes. The creature orders you to save the world by raiding and killing the cyborg mutants that are preventing you from getting your DNA. Yep, that sounds totally crazy and weird. But it kind of works.
Apart from this setting, the plot is more or less unimportant. The game’s narrative takes up surprisingly little space, and that’s not what Behavior Interactive chose to focus on. On the face of it, this is perfectly fine. The plot simply serves as an emotional marker for the game’s aesthetics and gameplay. It’s in these two areas that the game really spreads its wings. The aesthetics come directly from the Warhammer 40,000 and DOOM universes respectively. A raw and mechanical sci-fi style that mixes industrial with gore. The environment looks like a construction site from hell, all the walls of the buildings are covered in motor oil or blood. The line between man and machine is blurred in Meet Your Maker, which produces a perverse and sickening mix of physical and mechanical. Sparks from welded heavy metal are mistaken for blood and guts, a beautiful nod to a so-called shadowy aesthetic.
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This is especially evident in the character design of the various enemies you fight. Humans are completely wrecked by wire, steel and lamps, in stark contrast to their sickly pale and inflamed skin. The fusion of man and machine can also be seen in the environment, with skulls woven into the ceiling and wall wiring. It’s a rather interesting detail, reminiscent of Pirates of the Caribbean, where the Bootstrap Bill blends in with the walls of the Flying Dutchman.
These details are examples of how great the artistic vision of Meet Your Maker can be. The game has a recognizable style, drawing inspiration from other well-known IPs, but still managing to stand on its own.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the gameplay, which also borrows elements from a variety of different genres and games. Meet Your Maker mainly consists of two branches – FPS games and building games. First, you go out and explore paths created by other players, returning to the control tower with resources that your character can use to level up. Next, you can create your own paths for other players to explore. This game loop is tempting and fun at first, but unfortunately loses its appeal after a few hours. It must be said that Behavior Interactive managed to deliver a fun FPS game to a degree, but unfortunately, it only lasted a few hours and the game was reduced to a repetitive to-do list.
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Besides the shooting and building that make up the main gameplay, Meet Your Maker also acts as a dungeon crawler, roguelike, platformer, and puzzler. The game is clearly inspired by games like DOOM, Portal, and Minecraft, but it doesn’t quite stand out. Unfortunately, it ends up relying too much on gimmicks. Even though the game deliberately chooses not to focus on the narrative, a strong story is likely to keep the player’s interest longer.
The first few hours of Meet Your Maker are fun, entertaining, and challenging, but after a while the magic that got you started wears off.
