It’s a matter of life and death in Bio Inc. Redemption, but given the choice between the two, which would you choose?
You see, Bio Inc. Redemption is a simulator focusing on the biomedical strand of science, which involves the human body and everything that keeps it functioning properly. Depending on your chosen role here, you’re going to either be someone’s saviour, or their worst nightmare. Indeed, the creative minds at developers DryGin Studios are going to put you in the godly position to decide who lives and dies.
There are two Campaigns available from the off – Life and Death – with each consisting of twelve scenarios to tackle. Venturing into the Life section will put you in the shoes of a medical professional, with the job of diagnosing and treating patients in the hope of bringing them back to good health. Death on the other hand, well, you’re literally going to be killing people off with the help of horrible diseases.
Certain aspects are commonplace, such as being faced with an almost see-through human body and meters representing different systems within it. There’s also an ongoing mini-game where cells are harvested as Bio Points to spend on actions you take to affect the person. It’s quite fun as it requires quick reactions to grab them from the system it pops up in. Otherwise, the Campaigns have two very contrasting vibes and that’s crucial to avoid becoming too samey.
Personally, and take this however you wish to, I love the sinister nature of the Death scenarios in Bio Inc. Redemption. Being given the licence to bestow disease upon someone is thrilling as their systems shut down. There’s logic to what you’re doing too as some unsuspecting soul might have pre-determined risk factors to exploit. If they’re an overweight smoker, attacking with circulatory-related issues like blood clots and hypertension are a good place to start. Save up enough Bio Points and you could even trigger a stroke.
It’s not as easy as it sounds though, because doctors will attempt to treat these people and undo your devilish work. Options are in place to delay treatments, cause staff strikes and put the patient off seeing a doctor, so you can really boost your chances of achieving termination. The only frustrating part is how frivolously transplants are given out, with new lungs, kidneys and a heart acquired by a particular victim, which often leads to mission failure.
The opportunity for you to save someone in the Life Campaign is almost equally as rewarding, but it’s a tad trickier as more strategic thinking is necessary. Presented with a list of symptoms, the aim is to perform diagnostic tests to uncover what the problem is, before sanctioning the relevant treatment. A lot of diseases have crossover symptoms, so sometimes it’s a case of ruling things out. If you’re struggling to pinpoint the major issues, spending points on their lifestyle choices and intensive care procedures is possible to prolong their life while you keep investigating.
Eventually you become familiar with the diseases, which makes it feel rather rewarding when you uncover the big problems on the first try, or you decimate their health system with a great combination of threats. The amount of diseases within Bio Inc. Redemption, and the potential educational benefit of them, is very impressive. There’s everything from asthma, photosensitivity, and constipation, to lupus, a brain aneurysm, and multiple types of cancer. This adds to the longevity because there are multiple approaches you could take in each situation.
As for replayability, prepare to replay scenarios a few times in order to progress. That’s due to just a sole scenario initially being available across both offerings, with a set amount of hearts or skulls needed to unlock more. These are garnered through completing a situation on different difficulty levels, with a total of four up for grabs for each. In essence, you’re going to have to gather XP on the lower difficulties and level up to gain access to boosters to tackle the harder ones.
While not usually a fan of such repetition, it’s worthwhile to experience the clever ideas throughout the Campaigns. Expect to race against the AI to bring about death, try to shut down the body of a completely healthy person, treat an asymptomatic patient, and even solve two cases simultaneously. There are occasionally humorous moments too, with the game show looking wheel of STDs being a real highlight.
Outside of the Campaigns, there’s a Sandbox mode where you can manipulate almost every criteria that’s factored into a scenario. Aside from using it to practice different tactics, I don’t see much point in it and I can’t see it being a mode you’ll return to in a hurry.
A lack of interest in the Sandbox isn’t the last of the negatives either unfortunately. The UI is absolutely geared towards the PC version, and so on the controller it gets a bit fiddly. Interacting with nodes when actioning things, or highlighting symptoms, seldom feels natural and that’s not ideal. Furthermore, Bio Inc. Redemption is partial to the odd technical issue, where nothing responds and a reset is the only solution.
For those who like to have their cake and eat it, the tricky biomedical simulator Bio Inc. Redemption actually allows you to experience both the preservation of life and the threat of death very well. Sure, it’s morbid, but once you get over that, the concept is smart and completing scenarios provides a sense of achievement. While a few aspects hold it back from its full potential as a top tier simulator, there’s nothing majorly off-putting.
Ultimately, you should glove up, put your morals to one side, and grab Bio Inc. Redemption for a joyfully sinister experience.
