First Look: Hyper Light Drifter

When starting work on Super Mario 64, legendary director Shigeru Miyamoto instructed his team to begin by making a simple cube move with fluidity and grace before doing anything else. As a tentative step into three-dimensions, pressure was on for Nintendo’s mascot to make a confident leap and control of the moustachioed plumber was key. Once accomplished, that cube morphed into Mario himself and the game was, and still is, hailed as one of the greatest of all time.

Hyper Light Drifter by developer Heart Machine is not much like Mario. In fact, it has been consistently likened to another Nintendo franchise; The Legend of Zelda. Yet thirty-seconds of controlling your nameless wanderer is enough to convince you that, whether true or not, director Alex Preston has spent a great deal of time ensuring that the handling and movement of HLD’s protagonist is a joy.

From the graceful run, to the elegant swordplay to the super-powered dash, Hyper Light Drifter feels effortless. It looks the business too and even in a world chockfull of pixelated retro platform games, HLD stands out from the pack. Its world is a curious combination of rustic and sheen, with strange alien technology underpinning a very organic, crumbling world. It’s certainly been done before, and brings to mind the likes of Delphine Software’s Flashback, yet Hyper Light Drifter still feels fresh, alluring and mysterious.

This first look, encompassing what feels like a single level, has come about due to delayed development. Initially slated for a release this past summer, then by the end of 2014, Hyper Light Drifter has now been postponed until next year. Mo money mo problems is certainly part of the reason. Having asked for $27,000 through Kickstarter, Preston and Heart Machine received a staggering $640,000, allowing the team to hugely expand on the game. Coupled with Preston’s well-documented health problems and it’s little wonder HLD remains in development limbo.

As such, this teaser will go some way to assuaging early backers. Comparisons with Zelda, particularly 1991’s A Link to the Past, are somewhat misjudged. HLD is a combat heavy game with little in the way of exploration or puzzles, at least from what’s being presented. This disparity is initially disappointing until you accept HLD for what it is. Combat itself is almost a puzzle of sorts, with players given several attack and defence options from the outset. What seems like overkill for an initial weapon set-up is soon proven as anything but when faced with the games’ enemies.

Individually weak yet tenacious as a group, HLD’s foes will keep you on your toes, reducing a glowing health bar to scraps if you carelessly wade into battle without thought. The puzzle element, such as it is, comes from deciding how to approach each wave of enemies. Your self-charging lazer gun can take out ranged opponents with ease but its cool-down time is such that it’s not an all-conquering option. Swordplay for close combat looks and feels the part but takes careful timing, whilst your dash run can get you both out of trouble and, indeed, into it if you want to use the element of surprise.

It’s in the juggling of these abilities, adapting your style to each battle, that is the meat and bones of Hyper Light Drifter. Once again, control of all these abilities feels natural and fluid, leading to better and cleaner progress of areas the more you play. You may stumble through an area first time, but a second approach will feel more confident, whilst players looking for a challenge can aim for some flawless takedowns. In lieu of standard puzzles and exploration, HLD’s nuanced combat more than makes up for things.

How this will play out over the larger game, of course, remains to be seen. But in a time when many crowd-funded games underperform or simply never make it past the finishing line, there can’t be many backers who will walk away disappointed with what Heart Machine have achieved so far. And with those early adopters having elevated Hyper Light Drifter to a full scale cross-format release, more and more people will be able to get a taste of its wares when it finally hits digital shelves next year.

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