I remember the early days of dungeon crawlers. Games like Daggerfall of Elder Scrolls fame and even – and probably more prototype-esque for the genre – Eye of the beholder. These adventures took you on a journey to the unknown and sparred you against some of the strangest enemies. Vaporum: Lockdown tries to take me back to those times with their steampunk-inspired rendition of an old-school grid-based dungeon crawler.
Prequel
Vaporum: Lockdown is actually the prequel to the first game released back in 2017. In the first game, you were stranded in the middle of the ocean in front of a huge tower. The only way is to go up the tower and find out what went wrong in this strange place. Along the way, you would encounter steampunk-inspired automatons as enemies and a ton of lore to discover. Vaporum: Lockdown takes place before the events of Vaporum and takes place right at the moment everything went haywire in the tower. As scientist Ellie Teller you are conducting mysterious experiments in a tower in the ocean called Arx Vaporum when an automatic lockdown is happening, trapping her inside the tower.
Fumium
Early on in the game you are basically just carrying out trivial tasks in the tower when you first encounter some disturbances. Apparently, the newly discovered substance called Fumium had some odd side effects. After some explosions, the machines start to turn against their makers and are now out to hurt you instead of aid you. The Fumium also acts as a sort of overcharge making the automatons very lethal. As a frail scientist, Ellie can only endure so much. After battling through the corridors she was stuck in, she comes across pods with exo-suits. With a choice of 4 exo-suits, you need to make a decision on how you want to play Vaporum: Lockdown because each has its merits and its flaws.
Turn into a Big Sister
The resemblances with Bioshock are pretty obvious. The steampunk vibe, the exo-suit, the flying robots, and so forth… all look inspired by Bioshock’s Rapture. Although the aesthetic, parts of the story, and the fact you’ll be beefing your exo-suit until you turn into a big sister, Vaporum: Lockdown’s gameplay feels quite different. The gameplay is an ongoing mix of solving puzzles and grid-based combat/movement. The latter is taken straight from the early days of 3D RPGs. Your movement is confined to preset movement along an invisible grid. Enemies follow the same movement rules which can be used as an advantage to put space between you and an enemy if thought out well.
Although the grid-based movement is an odd choice these days, it does work quite well after getting used to it. Exploring the dark halls of Arx Vaporum this way feels claustrophobic as is but in combination with the limited movement makes it even eerier. Turning around a new corner and finding another hostile machine ready to attack gets the heart pumping. Luckily the place has some weapons lying around to help you defend yourself. Herein lies the biggest flaw of the game, in my opinion, the fact the combat is so darn sluggish. I know it is intended to be a stylistic choice taking us back to the early 90s RPG era but I felt it tedious and unnecessary. The suit upgrades that grant special power helped put some variation in the battles but for the most part, combat felt broken and boring.
Puzzle quest
Don’t expect to be battling all the time. Vaporum: Lockdown is about exploring, gathering intel about the tower through shattered around logs, and figuring out how to advance. The game does a nice job of incorporating puzzle elements throughout the game. By using pressure pads, shoot distant buttons, finding keys and so forth, you’ll have to figure out how to get further. Sometimes using your exo-suit’s special abilities might even be the key to progress. Those who aren’t into environmental puzzles will probably not enjoy Vaporum: Lockdown because the game is actually full of them.
Customizable
Vaporum: Lockdown stays true to its homage to the early 90s 3D RPGs just like Vaporum did. With tons of dark corridors to explore, you’ll have plenty to discover. Finding your way around the tower will not be easy. The game draws out a map as you discover new routes but leaves it up to you to find your way. There are no waypoints included so remembering where you went already and what area needs more exploring is up to you. Those who want to go even more hardcore can even select the option to not include the automatic mapping. Going pen and paper style like it’s 1993 all over again.
Conclusion
If you played and liked Vaporum you will surely like Vaporum: Lockdown. It is actually pretty much more of the same but with a different protagonist and from a different perspective. Although I wasn’t a fan of the combat, I had a good time in Vaporum: Lockdown. I do think this game is a bit of an acquired taste and might not suit every steampunk RPG fan out there.
