From the description of GAIN on Steam, things are clear: don't die. And it will be much more difficult than expected ...
Indeed, GAIN is difficult, very difficult. After a very brief tutorial which explains to me that I can see the guards (and their line of sight) thanks to the G key, and change weapons thanks to the 1 key (I also realize that I have to that I switch my keyboard to American keyboard because otherwise it does not recognize 1), I am thrown into the lion's den. I have to reach that damn green door ...
I die .... then I re-swim.
Over and over I see that damn black screen. Game Over.
As these are not the damn pixels that will get the better of me, I persist. I go back a few times, then I start to memorize the paths of the guards, their rounds, the places where they are vulnerable, my back to my door. I survive a little longer. I managed to retrieve these documents ... and finally I go out!
GAIN should not be seen as a classic shooter. With only 5 bullets in the magazine of our pistol equipped with its silencer and throwing knife, every shot counts. Each of these six shots must result in a useful death, that is to say a guard whose round cannot be avoided (or who has spotted us and not yet killed). Guards mostly wear bulletproof vests, which requires aiming for the head for certain death. Our character is a priori particularly silent (and / or the guards not very attentive), the best is to wait for the guard to turn his back, then to approach at a safe distance to deliver the fatal blow (the best still being to pass without having to kill him). Well, despite everything, even if sometimes it seems to me to be in the target, it does not pass. So it's back to square one. Fortunately, there are not always super-long loading times, the tests are linked well.
At level 2, I gained a new ability, the ability to slow down time. All happy to have finally managed to pass level 1 and in a hurry to test this ability, I then painfully remembered what permanent death meant when I left to explore this murky underground. I take a bullet and go back to the beginning of level 1. Well, despite a few tries, I did not manage to go much further so here are some screenshots from the press kit.
Not really pretty, GAIN can quickly be put off by its difficulty, the repetitive objective (finally, even if the scenery changes, it always remains to pass) and its requirement. It is clearly not a game for everyone. It is aimed more at players nostalgic for old arcade games, where error is not allowed. A few bugs, or impressions, annoy. Why doesn't the character pick up their throwing knife while unarmed? Why don't all my balls always hit the mark? Why is there no option to save a level if you prefer to play the easy way? Why can't I choose to have more balls? So many questions which may be answered later, but which for the moment make the experience a little frustrating. Afterwards, maybe you will be able to do better than me! If so, I'll wait for your screenshots in the comments!
The game has been available on Steam since its launch on May 24:
