REPLIKATOR from Ratalaika Games, Meridian4, and R_Games is a sci-fi procedurally generated roguelite twin-stick top-down shooter. Learn more in our REPLIKATOR review!

 

REPLIKATOR from Ratalaika Games, Meridian4, and R_Games is a sci-fi procedurally generated roguelite twin-stick top-down shooter. An artificial intelligence development program was put into place under strict secrecy since it was an activity that was officially prohibited. As expected, something went terribly wrong, and the AI became a serious threat. Your task will, therefore, be to eradicate the AI before it’s too late. Death is part of the roguelite cycle, and when you’re defeated, your entire body will be replicated so that you can give it another go. As long as you collect some energy cubes along the way, you’ll be able to chip away at the game and make some progress during each of your many runs.

There are four characters to play as: Trigger, Lina, Bolt, and Soldier. Each one will have different values for starting health, starting armor, and speed. They will also have a different special ability to consider, as well as some perks. Trigger can deploy a turret, is immune to acid, and will have enemies and objects dropping buckshot ammo more often. Lina can activate a medical drone, is immune to electricity, and will have enemies and objects dropping energy more often. Bolt can unleash a rocket barrage, is immune to fire and explosions, and will have enemies and objects dropping explosives more often. As for Soldier, he can activate a short period of invulnerability, is immune to pikes, and will have enemies and objects dropping bullets more often. Who will you choose?

 

The game can be played in one of three difficulty settings: Easy, Classic, and Challenge. For Easy, you’ll get more nanoparticles from the enemies you defeat, implants are not damaged, you can have up to five extra lives, and medical terminals restore up to five points of health. In Classic, implants are damaged if an extra life is spent, you can have up to three extra lives, using an extra life will only recover some of your health, and medical terminals can restore up to three points of health. If playing in Challenge, implants can end up being damaged when your character takes damage, you only have one extra life, an extra life restores only part of your health, medical terminals can restore up to two health points, and your ability does not recharge if you don’t have batteries.

You’ll control your character with the left analog stick as you aim with the right one. To attack with your weapon, press the R2 button. You can carry up to two weapons at once and can change between them by pressing the Triangle button. The L1 button will allow you to unleash a short rang shockwave attack. The L2 button can be used to dash. Your special ability will be mapped to the R1 button. Since it’s a very powerful ability, it will have a cooldown before it can be used again. To speed things up, you can set up two teleporters to help you travel through the station. A good tip is that you might want to set a teleporter next to some first-aid kits so that you can heal your wounds if you’re damaged. Teleporters can be set up by pressing the Circle button.

 

Ammunition usually drops after defeating enemies or destroying objects. But if you’re running low, you can use a special terminal to replenish your ammo by using some nanoparticles to pay for said privilege. Nanoparticles can also be spent at a medical station to heal your wounds. You can make good use of nanoparticles at replication stations that allow you to generate random items from a special internal database, and you’ll be able to choose one of them to add to your current run.

While exploring, you can find implants. These can be equipped to provide different advantages during combat. At first, you’ll only be able to equip up to three implants at the same time, but you’ll later be able to increase that limit. If you are playing the game in Roguelite Mode, then you won’t be able to see an implant’s description until you’ve picked it up and equipped it. If you’re playing in Tactics Mode, the descriptions for all implants will always be visible, which will make it a lot easier to pick the one you really need.

 

REPLIKATOR has a full trophy list to work on. And since this one is a Cross-Buy title, if you own a PlayStation 5, you can download the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game and work on adding two Platinum trophies to your collection. The list includes 11 Gold trophies. To get that shiny Platinum trophy, you’ll have to complete training, die once, get to the second level, use a terminal, download the station map, complete a run, open 5 doors, have 5 or more armor cells on you at once, use a workbench, and defeat the first two bosses in the game.

REPLIKATOR is a fun sci-fi procedurally generated roguelite twin-stick top-down shooter – is that a mouthful or what? It gets the job done by feeling familiar enough to make it possible for you to get going right away. The experience can be as challenging as you want it to, thanks to its three difficulty settings and two gameplay modes on offer. REPLIKATOR is available as a Cross-Buy title, so your $9.99 purchase will give you access to both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions.

Disclaimer
This REPLIKATOR review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Ratalaika Games.