If you printed out the chat logs from most matches in the attractively low-detail multiplayer shooter Minimum, one comment would stick out amongst the standard stock of gg, LOL, and pwnd: “Sword noob.”
While there were, of course, utterances of “this game is fun” and “that's an awesome weapon” and the rare mention of strategy, sword noobs were a common thread. As fun as it is to face waves of dinosaurs and take down big stompy robotic titans, and as surprisingly as the simplistic low-detail design works in Minimum’s favor, the imbalanced melee gameplay makes creates more than minimal frustration..
Provided you can find a full five-on-five match without too many sword-wielding psychos, all three of Minimum’s modes are a blast. There’s a standard team deathmatch with some good-sized maps, a horde mode that pits you against unique creatures and foes in samurai and ninja costumes, and Titan Mode, which mixes elements of MOBAs, Minecraft, and Titanfall into Minimum's greatest selling point.
Between farming creeps (weak, AI-controlled enemies) for power-ups for your Titan, unleashing your firepower on the other side's Titan when the two meet midway through the map, then pressing the advantage if the other Titan falls first or falling back to defend your base if yours goes down, Titan Mode requires you wear many hats as the flow of the match progresses.
Again, though, balance is the biggest fly in Minimum’s ointment. You see, every player on the battlefield has a regenerating health pool (though true to Minimum's name, it’s not shown on screen). While you can do some damage with various sniper rifles, plasma launchers, or bouncing-bullet miniguns, generally the distance between you and your opponent means there’s often time to retreat, take cover, and heal up when you’re in trouble.. When it comes to the swords, though, getting close is as close to a fail-safe tactic as there can be in Minimum. Short of having super-precise aim with a shotgun, you'll usually be felled with three or four rapid strikes from a sword - even before it’s been powered up with the in-match progression system - Swordsmen even get increased agility, making it quick to close the gap with a gun-wielding target and to escape if things get hairy. Once you die, of course, you'll drop various collectibles, including power-ups that make your opponent's weapons stronger.
While that leads to the rich getting richer in terms of offense, one could argue that it would be fair if this were all about gunplay; fighting smarter or as a better teammate would be a viable option, though not one that makes Minimum instantly approachable. When you're up against opponents with powered-up double swords, anything short of double- or triple-teaming your foes is suicide unless you’re a godly FPS player.
At the start of your Minimum multi-player only career, swords can be a deterrent to trying out Deathmatch or even Titan mode (swinging wildly in a pit of creeps is effective in both killing the creatures as well as stopping anyone else from collecting the Titan's power-ups). As you level up, you'll be matched up against foes equipped with even deadlier blades; for as much the launchers and miniguns you can craft can deal more damage, getting swords that deal more damage from the outset or even sap your life to give to opponents make any path but the sword noob tough to take, since you'll be desperately craving the weapon- and armor-crafting materials gained through slaying opponents and earning victories. It's a shame that it's almost a requirement to dedicate one of your two primary weapon slots to a sword, since they rule the roost in Deathmatch and can make half of Titan mode a big risk. An option to ban blades from PvP battles would be a quick fix for all of this, but that doesn't exist right now.
The co-op Horde mode is simultaneously a safe haven, a no-holds-barred playground, and a taste of schadenfreude. If you spam sword attacks, nobody will judge you since every player's fighting towards the same goal. In fact, it's a half-decent tactic early on when the AI opponents are weak. When the rounds roll on, though, the many melee-focused foes exclusive to Horde (like dinosaurs and ninjas) will mow melee spammers down with their numbers as teammates, who have properly set turrets and mines and found good choke points, pick up the slack.
Though as you scan Minimum's UI, you'll get the impression that there's plenty on the developer's plate. Despite moving out of Early Access, much of Minimum seems a work in progress. Plenty of crafting categories are blacked out, ranked matches don't seem to be accessible at all, and crashes and drops happen frequently. Developer Human Head shot for the moon with Minimum, but it would be great if the potential-filled launch experience could be a bit more accessible to match the its simple style.
The Verdict
The simplistic art style of Minimum isn't a turn off in the slightest. Surprisingly, it's the melee swords that end up being a huge imbalancing factor in combat that deflates the fun of the fast-paced gunplay. Minimum's two standard game types and refreshingly different Titan Mode will be a good time if that ever gets sorted out with a few balance tweaks, but right now the fun depends on the willingness of others to lay down their swords.cheezburger.com
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