Ctrl Alt Ego - indie immersive sim where you play a disembodied consciousness who can possess robots

[Zombra]

Currently at Chapter 7. How many are there?

I'm not good at math. Spoiler tag what the most recent big goal you accomplished was.

 

[udm]

Spoiler

Already spoken to PAM, figured out the Executor killed Everyman, and that main protag is a branch of Everyman.

 

[Zombra]

Spoiler

Already spoken to PAM, figured out the Executor killed Everyman, and that main protag is a branch of Everyman.

Sounds like you are well into the last huge mission.

 

[udm]

Final score

Should have had close to 600 EGO but I was just splurging recklessly in Chapters 7 and 8.

Pretty based

I really enjoyed it a lot. It's a unique experience in that there's nothing out there like it, and I think it's one of the best FPSes around especially at a price point of $20. The RPG elements are very light, so don't expect too much build diversity especially on harder difficulties where only a few Programs are viable. That said, there really are a lot of ways to bypass challenges. There were only a few moments where the game felt railroaded (eg scripted events), but most of the game allowed you to do as you pleased in a sandbox manner.

I do have a few complaints. The game is extremely janky and I suffered from motion sickness for the first 8-10 hours until I got used to Bug 22's movement. Plus Bug would move on its own when left idle, resulting in a lot of accidental deaths. I would have also liked more items to be interactive, like lamps and plastic boxes. I never liked inconsistency in frobbables.

Mild story spoilers below:
Interestingly, Chapters 1-6 felt more like puzzle levels/tutorial levels, and the game only really started to open up in Chapters 7 and 8. However, what I really didn't like was the ending. I thought there would be more to it than just an epilogue with a weakly put together cliffhanger.

Major story spoilers below:
Since Nadie was the real mastermind behind everything, it would have been cool to actually confront her in-person, rather than through the GOD that was floating about. The eye-pads did hint that she was in the GOD, but there was nothing very climactic about it. Compare that to the lead-up to the confrontation with the Executor, which was cool (even if he was a pushover).

But other than the ending, I liked the story a lot. It started out as a little weird British sci-fi episode with a lot of loose pieces but evolved into a more coherent plot towards the end as the pieces fell into place. And as mentioned before, Chapter 7 really is the highlight of the game.

I'd be happy to do a review for Fair Codexia if there's interest.

 

[udm]

Or even better, a collaboration with fellow gent Zombro

 

[mushroomrain]

Not a fan of that ending.

Spoiler

Does anything happen in the room or is that it and you just have to quit through menu?

Other than that, a very enjoyable game, despite some clunkiness (which is understandable since the team is so small).

 

[Zombra]

That room is the end credits.

 

[Talby]

This game made me physically ill to play. The way the robot slides around even after you release the key and the constant perspective swapping to different terminals/cameras made me want to throw up.

 

[Beowulf]

This game made me physically ill to play. The way the robot slides around even after you release the key and the constant perspective swapping to different terminals/cameras made me want to throw up.

AFAIK you can disable or at least decrease this robot movement inertia in the settings. Don't remember which one it is, but there should be a tooltip to help you with that.

 

[udm]

Yeah I got pretty bad motion sickness for the first 6-8 hours

 

[Denim Destroyer]

Due to the glowing Codex recommendations I picked up the game and found it to be my new obsession. I won't write a lengthy review but I consider the best aspect of Ctrl Alt Ego to be how many tools the game provides. Multiple times my elaborate plans failed but I was able to quickly rebound through improvisation. In one instance I failed to destroy multiple enemies in one explosion, as was my plan, not having enough health to withstand an assault I quickly grabbed a piece of debris and marked it as explosive then threw it at the enemies to disorient them. These simulation aspects allow me to overlook the games uneven pacing and lax difficulty and enjoy, what so far, has been an overlooked gem.

 

[Talby]

The options to tone down some of that stuff like the swaying/warp effects were a big help, although I kind of got used to them after a while. Game is very good.

 

[HoboForEternity]

This game is very good and very overlooked. Just finished the debugger level. How did you all deal with the "boss"?

jefe

basically what works for me is to set a box barrier with the pup around the enemies, ctrl the dads, the slowly and painstakingly materialize all the explosives in the room near mr. Jefe, then have my bug bullet rocket into pile of explosive near jefe's feet.

 

[Hammer Of The Heretics]

Playing this now. It's almost criminal how this gem flew under the radar.

 

[udm]

jefe

basically what works for me is to set a box barrier with the pup around the enemies, ctrl the dads, the slowly and painstakingly materialize all the explosives in the room near mr. Jefe, then have my bug bullet rocket into pile of explosive near jefe's feet.

Somewhat similar. I used the almighty Fault.

 

[HoboForEternity]

is this game really un-softlock able? like in the MOM level

spoiler

you have a barrier where you need to ctrl mom, and they do give you generous amount of ego in there, but if you really careless you can lose all those egos and won't be able to ctrl mom. i did ctrl mom, but went back to save and tried to find a workaround for the fun of it but couldnt find any

 

[Zombra]

is this game really un-softlock able?

I don't think it ever claimed to be that - the claim is that you can get through it with no upgrades. I could be remembering wrong.

 

[Lyre Mors]

It would be incredibly hard to soft-lock in this game. Based on my own playthrough, didn't seem possible.

 

[udm]

It is possible to soft lock if you really, royally screw up, like playing on the hardest difficulty with alerted enemies and little Ego left (unless you have maxed out Fault Infection). I'll be mentioning it in my review (which has been left at 25% completion for the longest time until I can find the time to sit down and write).

 

[HoboForEternity]

It is possible to soft lock if you really, royally screw up, like playing on the hardest difficulty with alerted enemies and little Ego left (unless you have maxed out Fault Infection). I'll be mentioning it in my review (which has been left at 25% completion for the longest time until I can find the time to sit down and write).

I played on strict, i think i have come near soflocking myself in the jeffe and mom level because of the hp regen + ego cost increase. But to the dev's credit i somehow found that extra ego just enough to push trough or alternative ways.

 

[Arryosha]

How does the rest of the game compare to the demo, which I think is part or all of the first chapter? I found the beginning linear and a bit boring--warp to this and then to this. The rest of the first chapter opened up a bit, but still feels restricted. Do the number of things you can manipulate increase in future chapters, so that it becomes more simulationist?

 

[Denim Destroyer]

How does the rest of the game compare to the demo, which I think is part or all of the first chapter? I found the beginning linear and a bit boring--warp to this and then to this. The rest of the first chapter opened up a bit, but still feels restricted. Do the number of things you can manipulate increase in future chapters, so that it becomes more simulationist?

The game opens up quite significantly after the first chapter but as for interactions do not expect too many new things.

 

[udm]

The highlight of the game is actually in the last two chapters, imo. Their level sizes are massive. Both combined outsize the rest of the game. The actual objects you can interact with don't change much (though you will probably get more dead MUMs to play around with), but the pathways to accomplish objectives opens up significantly.

 

[HoboForEternity]

almost finished this one. very cool game and i thought parasite was the final boss and pleasantly surprised it went on and on, especially the latter part being the most expansive levels and it finally started answering the plot questions.

it does "suffer" from the usual imsim endgame power creep though. i tried to collect as much upgrades as possible, and bug 22 is stunlocking, killing machine with drill that can pierce the heavens. i guess that kind of power trip isn't all that bad, after creeping around MOMs and DADs half the game, but it also took the creative approach away, like building a box fortress around a DAD or keeping your ctrl'd foes safe so you can walk around unnoticed. right now i can just stack few boxes, fault one of them and have the explosives infect other objects, lure enemies and 'splode them all

 

[Infinitron]

Codex review by udm: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/rpg-codex-review-ctrl-alt-ego.147618/