Review: BRIGHT MEMORY: INFINITE Is A Finite Burst Of Running and Gunning
Bright Memory: Infinite is nothing short of a wild anomaly. It stands as an impressive accomplishment of graphics and gameplay by the tiniest of teams, but its story is a short, hot mess that is also hard to follow. It is far better than its earlier version (Bright Memory) as a better fleshed-out experience that is both enjoyable and filled with confusing choices.
The gameplay and graphics are by far the best aspects of this game. The game doesn’t just look nice, it is mind-blowingly detailed and can really push a PC on its highest settings. Some character models are a bit underwhelming and there is some environmental popping for sure, but considering the scale of the development team (which is just one person), things are incredible. The beginning of the game and title screen take place in an apartment, but the rest of the game is spent in a jungle. The jungle foliage, lighting, and rainy aesthetic look great but are very one-note through the game’s whole experience.
But the best part of Bright Memory: Infinite is the actual gameplay. This is a shooter game that includes a bunch of first-person superpowers and melee combat; think Bioshock but with a lot more bullets, a sword, and fewer elements. I found the gunplay to be really dynamic and fresh with four guns that each have an alternative fire. Most enemies were either very easy or very health heavy. A couple of special enemies and bosses did require a bit more thought and planning, but were still very straightforward and took a long time to kill. The bosses were all interesting to see and play through, but one of them, in particular, had one or two more health bars than it should have had. Along with the gunplay, there are some grapple and melee abilities along with your sword and its abilities. These abilities range from throwing enemies in the air, pulling them in close, smashing the ground and creating shock waves, and sending sword slices in front of you. Some of these are a lot less interesting or practical, but they all have some level of purpose and killing power. Overall, killing enemies is a lot of fun and there is some fine variety for this short campaign.
As much fun as these parts of the game are, the story is so convoluted and short that this experience is definitely only worth the $10 price tag on Steam. An initial run through the campaign on normal should take two or three hours. Unfortunately, the higher difficulties are just gaps in health for your player and the enemies and little else. It can be a worthwhile challenge if you really enjoy the gunplay or want to unlock new skins, but otherwise, there isn’t much there. Lastly, the story here is about as shallow as any Contra game you’ve played. Our protagonist has no back story or real personality. Big villains appear and leave the story at random and there is an end-of-the-world event happening in the background and you have no idea why, how, or what to do about it. I know if there was a lot more time (and possibly sequels) we could get a lot more story and cohesive ideas of the world, but as of now, it is a wild mess and almost better if you just pay no attention to the story at all.
This game is in an odd place. On one hand, the gameplay and graphics are excellent, but on the other hand, the game has no tangible story and is really short with very little reason to revisit it more than one or two more times. If you want to feel like a superhero and demolish some bad guys with guns and a sword at breakneck speeds, Bright Memory: Infinite could totally be worth the small price tag, but if you are looking for more substance in story or replayability, then you might as well continue with what you are already playing.
