PAX East 2018 – Endless Breach & Clear With RICO

With modern shooters today it’s difficult to just have fun when they’re taken too seriously. But when I stumbled upon RICO at PAX East this past week, it’s easy to say that the game has changed my mind.

Developed by Ground Shatter, the game gives you the objective to breach and clear syndicate hideouts and bring them to justice. With a range of weapons, load outs, and coop fun with a buddy local or online. And unlike other titles under the same genre, RICO is less tactical and “more in the moment” as said by Game Director James Parker.
For the demo I played was around 15 minutes, but once I sat down and started it was already over. The game was fast paced and kept me on my toes after every door I kicked in. Shooting bad guys and clearing every room I saw, feeling out the weapons were enjoyable as they felt to distinguish between one another. Especially when it came to the rifles. The pistol fired just as I expected, but once I took out the AK 47 I was overwhelmed by how much recoil it has, and that’s how it should be. Most shooters usually have more than tolerable recoil for automatic weapons and to see this more realistic feature is appreciated.

And for a game like RICO I came up assuming it would be repetitive after each level, but that’s not the case. Each level is randomly generated switching up the layout of rooms and the objective as well. Keeping it new and fresh rather than just a selection of maps to play. As there’s no real end to the game, there are cases you can choose to play which take you around 2 hours to complete. But beware as permadeath is in the game, so if you lose you’ll have to restart the case.
The one part that had me interested was the choice for the game’s engine. As it woks well for it, it makes you almost underestimate how the game will play. Said by Parker for its inspiration:

Games like 13 or titles from Telltale were main influences. They have this cartoony art style, yet portray more mature stories when you play them.

More content to be part of the game such as daily operations to try out weapons as well as daily play time trials to compete times against friends.
RICO will be available for Xbox One, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEqCA2l3u0g