First impressions of Deserter were The Saboteur meets Commandos; however, that’s just for the setting and camera angles. The actual gameplay is more like Grand Theft Grain. You play as deserter John. That’s not his nickname, but he’s gone AWOL from the army because he values his life more than his superiors. It could be assumed this is a WWI/WWII setting, but that’s all you can assume, as it’s one of those alternate realities where the overruling evil entity is called The Party, and they aren’t at all nice.
After scarpering from his duties, John finds himself in a seemingly abandoned village. Remnants of war and subsequent poverty are everywhere, plus an abundance of rats. As there’s nobody about, now might be the opportunity for a five-finger discount and start breaking into places to survive. Going back to the assumptions, you’re on the run, so you can assume that the military po-po are on your trail. Not quite yet, so now’s the opportunity to see what you can scavenge.
Following this brief introduction into thieving, Deserter brings in the classic stealth techniques expected of this type of thing, with enemies projecting a cone of vision that you need to avoid. Squatting down through bushes, you can sneak around undetected, though if you get up close and personal, or you attempt to break in somewhere or flex the acoustics of your steel-capped army boots, they’re gonna chase you, and it’s not that kind of game to stop and have a slap and tickle. Instead, you run, hide, and hope for the best.
Emphasis again on this being an alternate dystopian reality, as plague-ridden folk, or the undead, it would seem, put up chase and serve as patrols in The City. Again, hiding is the expected option, though they’re stupid, so running out of sight is enough. Expect to be doing this a lot, as when you meet up with the townsfolk in the sewers, you use this as your base to do midnight runs of theft, finding enough rotten food to keep you all alive, as well as the resources to make crowbars and lockpicks to break into places.
Naturally, inventory is limited in Deserter, as too is the durability of items, so you’re perpetually scavenging. On top of that, John identifies as a human, so you have to ensure you have enough food and crafting to keep his tummy full, or he’ll be a grumpy bear. I kind of wish that Deserter wasn’t a demo, and instead I were writing about the full game. Going back to that Commandos comparison, AskaLot Games’ title gives loads of nostalgic chills of classic isometric stealth games, where I used to shut myself off to the world and gorge on gameplay. As an ‘adult’ now, I can’t do that due to sensible grown-up things. However, if they weren’t there, or the wife wasn’t looking, I’d be playing this, and obviously looking forward to when the full game is released.
Try Deserter for yourself – the demo is now live.
