Below, or How I Learned to Stop Being a Baby and Love Punishing Games

Last year at E3, I saw Below at an Xbox event and wasn’t sure what to think. Well, that’s not entirely true. I did know what to think, and it went something like this: “Boy, this is a pretty game. But holy heck does this look hard. Hey, is that

Spelunky, on the other hand, I’ve pretty much played inside and out a million times over. I remember texting fellow GameSpotter Chris Watters as I tried to pull off the infamous key run, a feat that requires you to lug a golden key across the bulk of the game in order to unlock a shortcut to the game’s fourth world. My texts to Chris (my Spelunky mentor) were both vulgar and exclusively composed in capital letters, and every single one of them was unfit for publishing here on GameSpot. But over the subsequent weeks, I dedicated myself to learning Spelunky’s well-hidden secrets, finally managing to beat not only the game’s primary boss, but also the hidden boss that, according to PSN trophy data, only 2% of players have managed to do.

So, suffice it to say, I was able to look at Below with fresh eyes this time around. And even though I died over and over within the 30 or so minutes I spent with the game at PAX East, I could tell that this game already had its hooks into me. And while a lot of that has to do with the way Below follows in the footsteps of similar games, much of it has to do with its own innovations.

For one, Below’s aesthetic is striking and distinct. The environments you visit are harsh and awash in darkness, but there’s also an abstract, ethereal beauty to them. These are ominous 2D landscapes, but ones designed with a gorgeous, painterly quality. On top of that, Capy has once again teamed up with Jim Guthrie, the indie rock musician who provided the wonderfully ambient soundtrack for Sword & Sworcery. While there are shades of Sworcery in Below’s music, it feels more subdued and fitting with the eerie darkness.

Those aesthetic details are evident right from the outset. What’s less evident is how well the game’s top-down, Zelda-inspired swordplay holds up over the long haul. Given how tiny your character appears onscreen, I’m curious how the item progression will work–can you feel a substantial difference between different pieces of equipment when the camera is so far removed? Can you really savor the moment you pick up something shiny and new when you’re little more than a speck on the screen? I’m sure Capy’s got some clever ideas in the works, but I’m curious nonetheless.

At any rate, Below was probably my favorite experience at PAX East. Having finally gotten over my fear of brutal games, I was able to go into this demo with open eyes and was rewarded immensely for it. Am I just getting my hopes up? It’s possible. We’ll find out for sure when Below launches on PC and Xbox One sometime this year.

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