Game Review: Meet Your Maker Provides a Satisfying and Sadistic Loop
Player-curated content has been a trend in the gaming industry for quite some time. Games like Super Mario Maker, Dreams, and LittleBigPlanet have allowed players to design their own games and levels using tools provided by the developers. However, this concept has not always been successful due to the fact that gamers are not developers, and the quality of user-generated content can be hit or miss. However, Meet Your Maker takes a different approach to player-curated content and offers a unique experience that sets it apart from other games in the genre.
Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, Meet Your Maker puts players in the role of clones and bio-organic mutants who are competing for control over the Earth’s remaining resources. The game encourages players to gather and hoard resources while protecting them in elaborate outposts filled with monstrous guards and traps.
With Meet Your Maker, the focus is on creating a challenging and engaging experience for players that emphasizes creativity and resource management. Players will have to carefully manage their resources, balancing the need to gather enough to upgrade their gear and outposts while also defending against raids from other players.
The game is not story-driven, but there is a plot and plenty of lore in the Codex. The world of Meet Your Maker is 80% in service of the gameplay loop, which is a good thing. The oppressive atmosphere created by the dirty, rusty, and grimy world heightens the excitement and thrill when the player manages to complete a run and emerge from another base intact.
In the field, it controls like a standard FPS, and you have a finite number of rounds for your weapons, which can be scavenged from dead guards or traps depending on the weapon. But you also have a melee weapon and a number of different consumable items to boost your survivability or speed. There are shields to protect you from damage and single-use regenerators to bring you back if you die. You also have a double jump and a grapple, which will not only pull you to a surface but also hold you there, often affording you a view of the area below you.
Each outpost you raid will be filled with traps, some of which trigger instantly, some of which have slight delays. There are arrow walls, spiked pressure plates, flamethrowers, explosives, huge blades, and more. Most will insta-kill you, throwing you back to the start and resetting the base. So each run becomes an exercise in trial and error and memory, which never really gets tiresome because each base is different, and the loot is worthwhile.
The outpost building is pretty intuitive, and you’re free to play around with not only trap placement but layout and guard zones. You can even set patrol routes for guards and upgrade their stats and behavior. Creating a veritable maze of traps, monsters, dead ends, and false hopes is deliciously exciting. There’s nothing to stop you from placing a trap in one corridor and another right on the spot a player has to jump on to avoid it.
Meet Your Maker is a game that’s not for everyone. It’s brutal, bloody-minded, and sadistic, but that’s precisely what makes it so exciting. The ability to build your outposts and traps, raid other players’ bases, and protect your stash is a unique gameplay loop that’s both challenging and rewarding. If you’re looking for a game that’s different, intense, and thrilling, Meet Your Maker might just be the game for you.
It’s worth noting that Meet Your Maker is not without its faults. For one, it can be pretty punishing, with some traps feeling overly unfair at times. And while the gameplay loop is satisfying, it can feel repetitive after a while. But these flaws are ultimately overshadowed by the game’s strengths, namely its engaging gameplay, unique premise, and deep customization options.
Meet Your Maker is a game that is sure to only get better with time. As more players create increasingly devious outposts, and as the developer continues to add new tools and features, this game has the potential to become a true classic in the realm of player-driven competitive gameplay. If you’re looking for something different, challenging, and endlessly entertaining, then Meet Your Maker is definitely worth a look.
