You control young French soldier Andre, slogging through unending miles of trenches and bunkers ridden with sucking mud, enemy soldiers, rats and mustard gas, in search of your captured brother Pierre and a safe return home.Developer Jordan Mochi is a one-man band, spending seven years to make Conscript a reality. I'm a sucker for single-dev games, and I'm happy to report that this one was definitely worth the wait. The gameplay evokes the original Resident Evil games. Slow movement, tense combat and inventory juggling all make an appearance here. Your weapons vary from the standard pistol to an infuriatingly slow, yet powerful bolt-action rifle, while you've always got your trusty trench shovel to fall back on when things get up close and personal.
Similarly, the map is made up of interconnected areas - think RE1's mansion - that you unlock as time goes on, along with sparse safe rooms where you can take a breather, rejig your carried items and occasionally upgrade your weapons (mostly in exchange for cigarettes - this is wartime after all). This means that all the necessary things for your survival, e.g. ammo, healing items and even ink to save the game, become precious commodities that you need to ration well.
Enemy soldiers come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Early on you'll encounter infantry with cudgels that are relatively easy to dispatch, but soon you'll encounter armoured enemies that take much more damage, sword-wielding officers and, terrifyingly, flamethrower troops that you'll find yourself panicking about as they inch closer.
Enemy soldiers come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Early on you'll encounter infantry with cudgels that are relatively easy to dispatch, but soon you'll encounter armoured enemies that take much more damage, sword-wielding officers and, terrifyingly, flamethrower troops that you'll find yourself panicking about as they inch closer.
And that rifle? It takes ages to aim, and you have to re-cock it after every shot. Remember the rats I mentioned earlier? You'll meet those soon enough as well. Ugh. Luckily, Mochi does give us an extremely useful dodge roll, which can get you out of tight corners, at least until you run out of stamina.
The graphics are extremely appropriate to the setting. Trenches are muted grey and brown with bright red blood spatters, buildings and trees are shredded, and the crump of artillery and the cries of the wounded are constant companions, along with dark and ominous synth work that really draws you into the horror. You also get numerous nice touches like collectible propaganda posters, personal items scattered around and, finally, flashbacks to Andre and Pierre's tranquil pre-war existence, which only adds to the oppressive atmosphere when you end up back fighting for your life.
SUMMARY
Conscript captures the grinding, stifling atmosphere of war really, really well, and setting a survival horror game during the Great War is very fitting. I won't say you'll have a good time playing this game, but it's really one to try.
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