Daedalus – No Escape Review

Daedalus – No Escape is an Action, Indie, Top-Down Shooter that has been conjured up by Patrice Meneguzzi. He has single-handedly developed this game on his own from his couch as a hobby since 2011 and that is in my opinion an incredible feat. The tag-line for this game on Steam is “If Quake 3 Arena and Alien Breed had a baby.. it would be named Daedalus – No Escape.”

I liked the sound of this game before I had even reviewed it, the second you load up a game you are hit with a perfectly created 2D industrial map, the lighting is exquisite, controls and the fast paced feel of the game are what makes this game a true great. It even includes Map Editing Software so you can create and then share your maps online or play with a group of friends.

The game has 5 game modes: high-score, death-match, last man standing, team death-match and capture the flag. Then mix into that a bagful of maps including player created maps, ones you’ve created yourself or the host of maps included with the game and there is plenty to keep you well entertained. There are nine fully immersive weapons that range from Machine Guns, Rocket Launchers to full on brightly coloured energy weapons. Even the right mouse button initiates a close quarter melee attack and doing that 200 times will net you the awesomely titled “Chuck Norris Achievement”. Picking up the 4x Damage Power-Up will see you become a God Among Men until your scythed down by gunfire.

I poured a few endless hours into the Solo Missions, you start out against one bot on a small map until it’s tempo is cranked up to bigger and better maps with twelve to fourteen bots. At this point it just becomes carnage, hilarious and fun. Hearing the addictive words Double Kill, Triple Kill.. Rampage is something will bring a smile to your face as you send Rail Gun rounds or the odd Rocket down a tight corridor.

This is the time you’ll want to broaden your horizons to multiplayer. But at the same time disappointment will set in and hit hard. I played over a very cold, wet and miserable weekend but the highest player in-game counter read…….seven (not seven hundred or seven thousand.. just seven) and online was a jaw dropping zero. I was like a child in a sweatshop with no money to spend, I kept checking every hour or two but to sadly to no avail.

This game has everything going for it, graphics, it’s addictive, very immersive and action packed gameplay and even a great soundtrack. But with no one playing online it’s like owning a Ferrari without an engine, stunning but your stuck in the garage not going anywhere. Don’t get me wrong you can still happily play Solo and still have a great time, if you have half an hour to kill then flick on a few games and you won’t be disappointed.

I deeply want to recommend this game, without being able to play online on what is a brand new game i can only give it 7/10. It desperately deserves more, if the multiplayer kicks off with a massive influx of players this game will be an easy 9/10.

I wish all the luck in the world to Patrice, creating a game like this on your own is in my opinion unfathomable, sadly what he has created has so far tragically slipped under the radar. But hopefully it’s a masterpiece that people will eventually find. It has the potential to be huge, to have a mass following, maybe this and other reviews will help. So, please buy it and help this game grow.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary PC code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.