Golden Light

Golden Light is a first person shooter (FPS) with roguelike elements and an unserious horror atmosphere. It was inspired by a number of games (including Resident Evil VII: Biozahard, Silent Hill and The Binding of Isaac), but most of all by the so-called prop hunt - a type of multiplayer games in which one player has to find the others, and the latter can take the form of nearby objects. Mr. Pink studio reversed this scheme a bit, because here the "hiding" enemies are the hunters, like mimics from Prey.

Plot

At first, the protagonist Golden Light has nothing to worry about. He has just gone on a picnic with his beloved on a beautiful sunny day and everything promises to be a very pleasant day. At least, until a hole surrounded by organic tissue opens up under the girl and her boyfriend is forced to search for her in the hideous meat corridors of The Gut, where many dangers lurk.

Golden Light focuses on arousing disgust and messing with the player's mind, which brings it closer to splatterpunk productions. The game often uses the so-called body horror, even in the case of the main character (although, fortunately, the player rarely sees the effects of the more interesting "modifications" literally on his own skin). A bicycle playing music with a talking skull attached is one of the more pleasant and normal sights the player will see while crossing The Gut.

Game mechanics

In typical games inspired by the prop hunt from Garry's Mod, the gameplay is a variation of hide-and-seek. One player has to find the others on small maps, and those who hide can take the form of almost any object.

Golden Light completely reverses this scheme. Firstly, the game allows you to play solo, and not with bots pretending to be real players. Secondly, here the transforming enemies hunt the main character. Monsters can surprise the player in every place. Even doors or usable objects can suddenly take a disgusting form and attack the protagonist.

Survival isn't made any easier by the procedural content generation, as not only the maps are random. Every time you start the game, items have completely different effects after use, not necessarily positive. So it may turn out that the potion, which previously healed, now attracts to monsters or absorbs gold (which in Golden Light plays the role of currency spent at NPCs).

As if that wasn't enough, weapons - which are largely organic and gold, on top of sometimes being chatty - break very quickly. Damaged copies can only be eaten to regain health. In addition, ammunition in the game is scarce, and each weapon uses a different type of ammunition. As if that wasn't enough, Golden Light difficulty level increases with every enemy killed.

This all invites you to sneak through locations and use environmental elements to eliminate or avoid enemies.

Game modes

Golden Light started life as a single-player game, but eventually the game also got a two-player co-op mode (which incorporates some changes to the gameplay balance) and online competition. In all cases, levels and their content are procedurally generated, and the adventure may be crowned with one of many endings.

The title also offers three difficulty levels. The easiest one strengthens the player's character and gives out checkpoints generously. The most difficult makes the hero return to the very beginning of the game after each death.

Technical aspects

Golden Light uses Unity Engine technology, popular among independent developers. Graphically, the game does not look impressive, using low-quality textures (which translates into low hardware requirements).

Stylistically, it uses the tried-and-true scheme of horror movies: seemingly ordinary sights and places are mixed with the grotesque. Mr. Pink's work definitely does not spare players, every now and then arousing anxiety with organic terror and views that can be delicately described as disturbing and often disgusting.

As befits a stealth game, sound plays an important role in Golden Light. Enemies make a lot of noises while wandering the corridors of The Gut, and taking advantage of these hints is crucial if you want to complete the game.