PC Gamer - UK (2021-12)

Buthere’sthetwist:witheachround

youandyouropponent’splaysof

previousroundsgetloopedin.Soby

theendofthematchyouandyour

enemyarerunningaroundamidst

fourpastversionsofyourselves,all

dutifullystuckonthecoursesyou

previouslysetforthem

• untilyouandyour
  enemydisruptthem,
  thatis...
  Duringyour
  opponent’sturnand
  inter-turnreplaysyou
  free-flyadronearound
  thelevel,whichlets
  youlearnvitaldetails
  likehowtheenemy’ssoldierwillkill
  yoursoldierbeforeyoucapturea
  controlpoint,orhowsixsecondsinto
  theroundanenemywillrunthrough
  acertaindoorway,soyoucanleavea
  minethereforhiminanticipationof
  hisinevitablearrival.

Aseachsuccessiveroundgets

moreandmorelayeredwiththe

eventsofpreviousrounds,thegame

becomesbrain-straininglytactical,

andeachnewroundpresentsitsown

puzzlewithendlesssolutions.Doyou

trytoshootthesniperdestinedtokill

yourspeedy-dashguy

who’sonapathtopick

uptwoorbsforyour

team?Orwoulditbe

safertouseKarlthe

robotinthelastround

tothrowaprotective

orbbetweenthesniper

andyourpastspeedy

self,blockingthat

game-changingbulletfromever

reachingitsdestination?

Whenyoudie,youcontinuethe

roundasaghost,andyoucan,and

should,keepcarryingoutobjectives;

shouldyoumanagetosavethat

versionofyourselffromdyingina

future round, they could swing the

match in your favour.

Each operative has their own

ability and I appreciate that the game

forces you to play with them by only

letting you use one once per match.

BULLET TIME

The weapons, meanwhile, seem to

have been procured by the developer

breaking into Epic’s long-buried

Unreal Tournament bunker and

making off with a bunch of gear. So

expect to see renamed appearances

from the beam-firing Link Gun, the

teleporty Translocator, and even the

goo-firing Bio Rifle. The game’s arena

shooter vibe is reinforced by tight

maps set on intergalactic colonies,

and little mobility touches like jump

pads and a sliding bunny-hop

manoeuvre that’s invaluable to learn.

Lemnis Gate is a game where

twitch reflexes can be outdone by

clever firing angles, trap placements

and planning. On the other hand, a

heroic display of shooting prowess

can undo a solid strategy in a second.

At one point in the dying

moments of a match, I fired a

last-ditch goo globule at a faraway

looping enemy. It did just enough

R

atloopGamesCanada’sLemnisGatedustsoffanold-school

arenashooterframeworkandlayersitwithabrillianttime

loopconcept.Eachmatchconsistsoffive25-secondrounds.

Foreachroundyoupickauniqueclasstocarryoutthe

mission–anassortmentofyourclassicDeathmatch,

Domination,Seek&Destroy,orXMRetrievalwhereyougraborbsfrom

aroundthemapandtakethembacktoyourbase.

FP-Chess

Let’s do the time loop again in LEMNIS GATE

By Robert Zak

Agamewhere

twitchreflexes

canbeoutdone

byclever

firingangles

TOP:Leavinga gootrailfor an enemy from a

previouslooptorunacross is a devilish pleasure.

RIGHT:Pew,pew,andindeed, pew.

NEEDTOKNOW

WHAT IS IT?

A multiplayer FPS with

a clever time loop

mechanic

EXPECT TO PAY

£16

DEVELOPER

Ratloop Games Canada

PUBLISHER

Frontier Foundry

REVIEWED ON

Ryzen 7 5800H, Nvidia

GeForce 3070 (mobile),

16GB RAM

MULTIPLAYER

Yes

LINK

lemnisgategame.com

Lemnis Gate

REVIEW