It’s quite refreshing to come across a game bio which doesn’t contain the usual buzzwords, but instead features something a little more unusual. Protodroid DeLTA is set in a “solarpunk” world where humanity has made a game changing breakthrough in harnessing renewable energy and creating a sustainable society. However, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine.
Luckily, the supremely advanced DeLTA has the strong moral compass and sense of justice that we can all only hope the AI of today develops if it decides to go sentient. Protodroid DeLTA tells the story of a clash between man, machine and nature itself.
If I’m honest, I wasn’t too enamoured with the tale told in Protodroid DeLTA. There are some interesting characters, along with a few twists and turns but ultimately I ended up speeding through the conversations a fair bit in an effort to get back to the action.
Anyhow, the long and short of things is that DeLTA sets off to take down the Vyper Masters. These powerful rulers all exude different character traits, and talk the talk, but in the end only respond to the language of violence. Each are the bosses of their own little kingdoms, and their area contains three levels, a sub boss and a showdown with the big bad themselves.
Protodroid DeLTA is a stylised platformer which reminds me of when the genre leapt into 3D in the late nineties and early noughties. Infact, the first zone especially brings back memories of the excellent (and underrated) Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, complete with guitar riffing soundtrack which played over in my head long after I finished. The robotic enemies, floating stages and moving platforms all channel the same energy.
Visually it ticks all these boxes too, although by today’s standards the frame rate is noticeably choppy at times. This is highlighted even more so when you view moving elements in the distance, such as lasers and rotating ledges.
DeLTA comes equipped with an arm cannon (similar to Mega Man) as well as being proficient in melee combat. These attacks refill your energy bar which is consumed when you launch special attacks, or use more powerful weapons. Dotted around the stages are little yellow crystals which are located almost at random, but will also replenish your energy when you melee them. They feature at the start a fair bit, then tail off only to make a reappearance near the end of the game. Some boss battles have them in the arena (making life a lot easier) but some don’t. Their placement is inconsistent and a little odd, almost as if they were forgotten about halfway through the game.
Your standard cannon won’t consume energy, but it is your weakest. As you defeat each Vyper Master, you will gain their weapon to add to your arsenal. To fire you need to repeatedly press the right trigger each time which is not ideal for those looking to avoid a little discomfort. Holding it down is used to fire a charged shot. It would have been good to have the option to change this as you have to do a lot of shooting (which I’m sure you can imagine).
Unfortunately, this doesn’t help the fact that boss fights are a mindless dodge and shoot grind. They are all similar encounters where you need to whittle down a chunky health bar whilst avoiding swathes of projectiles within a confined arena. Annoyingly, despite them all being fleshed out (and brilliantly drawn) individual characters, you just end up fighting a generic looking mech suit most of the time.
DeLTA herself controls pretty well on the whole, which is important as the levels get more tricky. However I did find the jump input response a little delayed which caught me out when things got hectic. I ended up walking straight off the edge of a platform into the abyss a fair few times, which to be fair was only a minor annoyance.
Despite the main levels being fairly linear, they are set in large spacious environments which not only allow for hidden collectibles, but also secret warp gates to special zones and hidden areas. Completing these will offer a variety of upgrades, as well as abilities which lessen the challenge on offer somewhat. For example, unlocking the mid air glide and double jump made it much easier to skip over parts of, and clear, otherwise tricky segments.
Back at the stage select screen you can access new suits for DeLTA to wear whilst in the field, alongside purchasing additional upgrades and boost items with what you manage to collect. These can prove pretty useful if you’re struggling by refilling your health, or energy metres amongst other things.
Now, it may sound like I didn’t have much fun with Protodroid DeLTA, but in thinking that you’d be wrong. When all is said and done, it’s a solid and enjoyable platformer. It’s simple to pick up and play from the word go, but this means it can feel a little repetitive at times as there are a fair few levels to blast through. But ultimately it all depends on how much you enjoy this type of game really. It’s pretty clear from the get go what you are getting here.
However, thanks to pretty tight controls and a decent progression system for DeLTA, it kept me hooked right until the end.
Fold in the fact that it was developed by just Adam Kareem as a solo dev, and that makes Protodroid DeLTA even more impressive. Let’s face it, there are much, much worse solo efforts out there and I have probably played most of them.
Protodroid DeLTA rises above its niggles to emerge as a characterful platformer which pays a faithful tribute to those which inspired it.
