Void Bastards (Nintendo Switch) Review

As one of the most groundbreaking and influential PC titles of the late 90s, System Shock 2 created a ripple effect throughout just about every corner of the gaming industry. Whether citing the game as being an inspiration or having a previous designer on System Shock 2 or the other notable projects from Looking Glass Studios on the project, players of the original title can usually connect the dots when a game makes a callback. Coming from the minds of Looking Glass veteran and the indie team Blue Manchu, Void Bastards has elements of System Shock 2 with roguelike elements and modern sensibilities all wrapped in an impressive comic book style. The game has already made some waves on PC and Xbox One but now players on PS4 and Switch can explore the dangerous reaches of space as a bastard. On the Switch, things mostly go as expected from a port but there are things holding this one back that leaves me hoping for a patch. That or I’ll just pick it up on PC for a better experience.

Void Bastards is a retro-styled first-person shooter where players take control of prisoners that are reconstituted by an emotionless robot who just mixes up a new person out of an endless supply and then kicks them out the door to fetch items to fix various parts of the main ship. What makes Void Bastards a retro shooter is how the enemies look; they are reminiscent of games like Doom or Duke Nukem 3D where the monster is a 2D sprite that is given depth by changing depending on the viewing angle. Even though enemies are flat, there are weak spots that do extra damage which is a fantastic addition to this style of shooter.

Enemy design can lead to some interesting combat encounters but due to the nature of the random levels, it sometimes feels like just taking on whatever was spawned at the start all at once. Most of my efforts of rummaging through derelict spacecraft just resulted in turtling in a corner, throwing Kittybots to distract foes, and then following up with proximity mines. It’s effective most of the time. I actually recommend shooting for a higher difficulty level because the game can get trivial on lower levels. I especially like the design of the Screw creatures, large hulking beasts that are kind of like the Big Daddy of Bioshock but with less combat variety. The Screws fire off these spikes that bounce all around and most areas of the game are fairly tight quarters so running into a Screw in a hallway can mean a quick death.

Thankfully, by taking one’s time, one can figure out what’s in a room by listening and looking at the visible onomatopoeias that hover in doorways. This adds to the comic book feel of the game and it also appears for things like explosions. Speaking of the comic-inspired visuals, Void Bastards looks stunning and has this beautiful teal-heavy color palette. Unfortunately, there’s also a border that can be changed from white to black and there’s not an option to just remove the border altogether on the Switch, which shrinks the screen a bit and makes the viewing port that much smaller. When playing handheld, this just isn’t ideal. The on-screen text can also be really tough to read on a larger screen and I did have to get a lot closer to read it while playing than I would have liked.

It also doesn’t help that Void Bastards currently stutters a lot on the Switch. Seems like any time I was moving quickly or ran into a room with two or more enemies there would be a momentary lapse. This happened consistently throughout my entire time with the game and it’s the type of thing that should be a top priority for the devs to patch out. This happens often enough when getting early copies as I’ve had Void Bastards for a week or more but it’s still something worth mentioning in case this problem lingers beyond the launch date.

It’s also worth pointing out that because this game was designed with PC sensibilities there are areas that didn’t seem to be as considered for console players. There’s an enemy called the Spook that is this ghastly being that teleports when it spots the player. Besting these is usually all about timing but it’s extremely tough to do this on a controller. Spooks phase in and out so quickly that I barely could line up a shot before they were gone again, something I know would be much easier with a keyboard and mouse for most FPS players. Playing this game with Joy-Cons is also a quick path to hand cramps so I recommend either a pro controller or an equivalent. Playing handheld can be achieved but as the game gets tougher I found that the controls just weren’t adequate. I tried playing around with the sensitivity but there’s not much to work with on the Switch’s main controllers.

Playing Void Bastards like this actually just made me yearn for the PC version that much more and I will likely pick it up at some point in the future. That said, the gameplay loop of Void Bastards does start to bleed into being repetitive after a while to the point that I don’t know if I’ll finish the campaign.

The map is randomly generated as a web of points of interest ranging from abandoned ships (which this section of the universe is filled with) to spare resources to pirates and more. The ships are the main levels that involve loading into a map, hunting down the ship’s main item of interest, and dipping out. For items that move the plot forward, the map points out objectives but will spawn another if it is passed up because the player can only move forward. This does lead to some interesting decision making outside of combat but it’s not as deep as I would like. It’s also easy to be hamstrung by a single death, losing a majority of ammo, food, and fuel, and later in the game, it’s hard to climb back up to feeling remotely prepared.

Thankfully, crafting new guns and upgrades carries from prisoner to prisoner and there is an endless amount of new bodies to use. Because of this, players will eventually fumble their way to the end but due to the recurring nature of tasks, it gets old after a while. I found myself addicted to Void Bastards initially but after ten or so hours and getting most of the weapons I felt that the game had shown me all it had to offer.

Aside from the technical issues of the game running on the Switch, shooting, sneaking, and looting all feel pretty great. Mechanically, the game is pretty straightforward and fans of Bioshock should definitely give it a go. However, those looking for the complexity or options of System Shock 2 or the provocative story-telling of Bioshock may walk away from Void Bastards wanting much more. I played System Shock 2 for the first time recently, even making a guest appearance on a horror podcast called the Here’s Johnny Podcast to talk about it, and while I liked what it was going for, it wasn’t the game’s mechanics that I enjoyed. It was the antagonist Shodan. I’m not sure if Void Bastards‘ monotone-voiced director ends up being as interesting by the end but it certainly lacks the personality.

There’s an air of light humor strung throughout and some caricatures of capitalism but I do wish these themes hit harder than they do. The dialogue and situations certainly got a chuckle out of me but I started rolling my eyes only a few hours in. Unfortunately, it’s mostly just background noise in between the more interesting exploration.

Despite not being overly impressed with Void Bastards, I’ll still probably add to my Steam library down the road as I love retro styled shooters on that platform. Will it be one I come back to as often as any of the Doom games, Dusk, or Amid Evil? Doubtful but it could be the perfect way to unwind after a long week.

If anything those who really like Void Bastards can get a ton of hours out of it and having it on the go can make for some quick sessions. Most ships only take about 5-10 minutes and the player does have an oxygen meter that forces a time limit with some options to refill or extend that time being available.

At the end of the day, I do wish continued success for Blue Manchu as there is a ton of charm in the style of Void Bastards. I just hope to see this idea further expanded upon and refined. Hell, maybe even create a campaign without the random elements and include the roguelike stuff as a bonus in the sequel. The bricks have been laid for a truly stable endeavor.

Learn more about Void Bastards on the official website. A digital Switch copy of the game and its DLC content was provided for the purpose of review. Screenshots were captured using the functionality of the Switch.

For more reviews from the publishing side of Humble Bundle, check out my time with One Step From Eden, a roguelike inspired by Mega Man Battle Network, or my delightful experience with A Hat in Time, a platformer that is just heckin’ cute.