Each week your intrepid heroes test a game against three Linux distributions. I Hate Running Backwards faces, the ChairQAsition!
Game: I 💖 running backwards
Webzone: I_Hate_Running_Backwards
Devel: Binx Interactive / Croteam Incubator
Engine: Unity
Price: £10.99 / US$14.99 / CA$16.99
Wazzat: I Hate Running Backwards is a never-ending adrenaline packed shoot’em down roguelite that puts the emphasis on destruction and fighting never ending waves of enemies while time traveling through procedurally generated worlds!
Mandatory Disclosure: They sent keys
Venn:
Does It Launch
- Indeed.
Performance @ 1080
- 60 @ 1080 / 30 @ 2160.
Graphics
- The Voxels vox.
Control
- Latest update jacked up the Steam controlla.
Jordan:
Does It Launch
- The hang on the first launch had me worried for a few minutes
Performance @ 1080
- [email protected] Ultra, 60 @ UHD Ultra
Graphics
- Yup, I can tell the enemies and the backgrounds apart. Good stuff
Control
- Gets some bonus points for having correct button prompts on the dual shock. Good jerb guy!
Pedro:
Does It Launch
- It took a while to load the first time, I had to stop myself from killing the transparent window it spawned.
- Doesn’t remember fullscreen setting.
Performance @ 1080
- Can’t push performance to ultra at 3840, lest I want to play the game at 45 FPS.
- Works fine on high at UHD.
Graphics
- It’s infinite backpedaling Sam in Minecraft
Control
- Mouse keyboard and controlla all work out of the box.
- With rebindable keys all around.
QA Score:
Fedora:
Soulless:
Ubuntu:
Fun?:
- Venn:
- My steamy batteries died right at the first boss.
- 53 minutes of me trying to nope that damn Scorpion.
- But, I keep coming back.
- Don’t you love it when a game reminds you of an abusive relationship?
- No online multi, really?
- Listen, the only thing new this game has going for it is running backwards.
- Outside of that it’s voxel guerilla war with a serious Sam skinpack and a side of bullet hell.
- Plenty of weapons & upgrades + you get extra damage by smashing the level to fill a meter.
- What it does it does well but without online multiplayer things get stale with a quickness.
- I’m not saying I hate running backwards, it’s just not my prefered method of locomotion.
- Jordan
- It’s reverse 1942.
- That said, I think the serious sam stuff is worked in there pretty well
- The werebulls were a nice example of that
- The scorpion took a few attempts, but that was more to do with getting used to the controls. I ended up perfecting him on my successful attempt. Is it just me or was the 2nd boss way easier
- Shmups don’t usually do it for me. This one’s a good attempt though.
- Apparently singing along to Donna Summer helps me get into something resembling a flow state
- I will say though, I do think online multiplayer would have easily netted this boy another chair
- Pedro
- My biggest complaint is how you can’t aim.
- You always shoot straight and all you can do is move your character.
- I have mentioned before how the simple inability to do something you expect to be able to do always feels so limiting in videogames.
- And while I can concede this is by design, I can’t see in what way not being able to aim helps this game.
- It certainly didn’t help me get past the general feeling of “Meh” I got from the rest of it.
- Sure, it’s an Incubator game, but it’s being sold for actual money now and the actual truth is that, while I can’t find any other major flaws, I still didn’t feel particularly compelled to play this one.
Fun Score:
Venn: 
Jordan:
Pedro:
