I can feel it in my brain
Some ideas look great in thought but are horrible in reality. Like a movie pitch that seems excellent on paper, but once all the actors are together and you’re looking at the CGI, you realize it was a horrible idea.
Then there are some ideas that seem boring or asinine in thought but are fantastic in reality. Games like The Last of Us or Madison seem dull as a pitch but then leave an impactful and lasting impression in reality. Endoparasitic is the first one. It’s a clever idea and concept in thought. It could be better in reality.
We can envision a room full of developers thinking of a gimmick to set their game apart from others, and we can just hear someone saying, “You know all those actions you take for granted in a video game? Like, drawing your weapon, reloading, opening doors—even walking? What if we made a game where all that stuff was, like, manual? And you had to walk manually, pull each weapon from its holster and put it back, load each bullet into your gun, etc? Wouldn’t that be cool?”
It’s a clever idea that, when implemented, translates poorly into gameplay.
Story & concept
The concept of Endoparasitic is as stated above. It’s a pretty straightforward game, but everything you do is manual.
At the beginning of the game, your character has three limbs ripped right off. Blood everywhere. Lots of screaming. He only has one arm and he uses it to crawl away.
And thus, Endoparasitic begins.
The story of Endoparsitic is short-lived and follows your typical sci-fi horror troupes. A secret government testing facility works on secret scientific tests on secret substances with secret properties. It’s a secret! Also, the lab might be on the moon. The secret moon.
You play the head scientist of this secret lab who was entirely devoted to their work. They ignored their fellow scientists, warnings from higher-ups, and negative test conclusions. As a result, your character is caught off guard by mutated lab assistants who rip off their limbs. Go figure.
After you find a conveniently placed clothes iron and cauterize your wounds, you spend the rest of the game ensuring no more contamination breaches occur. You also try to figure out precisely what the hell happened and why everyone is either dead or a mutant.
Graphics
The graphics are pixelated and underdeveloped. So much so that characters don’t have faces, enemies usually don’t have hands, and you’ll only tell items apart by their color. And what colors there are appear muted and gray. The graphics won’t impress anyone, but that’s not where the game’s focus lies.
Sound & atmosphere
If we recall correctly, there are two tracks in all of Endoparasitic. The second area, once you figure out some of the mechanics, and one of the areas near the end. That’s it. And while we were vibing to each song–nothing like a funky bass to make the head bob–the rest of the game was in general silence.
That silence can lend itself to the atmosphere of Endoparasitic at times. You’ll encounter monsters that respond to noise in some areas, so you’ll need to drag yourself slowly and quietly. The silence makes sense in that context. And it can heighten the tension in other areas. But frankly, we’d rather have the funky bass slapping in those tense areas; it would’ve livened the experience more.
I will say this: Endoparasitic hired a phenomenal voice actor. That was one aspect of the game that stood out as we played; the voice actor for the scientist was dramatic and compelling as hell.
Gameplay
Everything is manual. Each drag of your body, each time you draw your weapon, every bullet reloaded, etc. By the end of Endoparasitic, my finger had clicked so many times I thought I had developed arthritis.
Also, a parasite is trying to eat your brain the entire game. Your character will cough up blood to represent its movement up your spine toward your brain. You need to constantly keep an eye on the parasite and inject yourself with temporary vaccines to stay alive. If enemies hit you, it increases the speed of the parasite.
At first, all the mechanics together seem interesting. As you’re dodging mutants around tables, sprinting towards the next area, and keeping the parasite at bay, it’s goofy and almost fun.
Almost.
But if we had to describe the gameplay of Endoparsitic in one word, it would be tedious. After a while, that goofiness wears off. You get annoyed at manually reloading everything, especially as monsters bear down on you.
Replay value
We came, we saw, we conquered—and we don’t ever need to play it again. Hit every achievement there is, and we’re totally good here. We’re good.
Final thoughts on Endoparasitic
Endoparasitic is a quick, solid indie game with a clever concept. It’s like a short story that you can read in an afternoon but shorter. If you want to study game design or are looking for a beginner gaming project to pick apart, check out Endoparasitic.
It’s not meant to provide hours of content, speed-running material, or in-depth strategy. It’s intended to be a quirky, fast game. And for beginners just learning to code their first games, Endoparasitic is a worthy goal to shoot for.
We didn’t have the most fun playing Endoparasitic, but it’s not a bad game. It feels like something clever college students whipped together over the summer so they could learn to code and prove to their professors they’re badasses. It’s a bit tedious and relatively short, but it’s inventive, clever, and absolutely unique.
