Draft:I Am Your Beast (2024 Video Game)

I Am Your Beast is a first-person shooter video game developed by Strange Scaffold and published by Strange Scaffold and Frosty Pop. It was released on Steam for Microsoft Windows on September 10th, 2024.

Gameplay

I Am Your Beast is a shooter that pits the player character, Special Agent Alphonse Harding, against the fictional "Covert Operations Initiative" or "COI" after he declines a mission from his superiors. As Harding, players progress through several levels with varying objectives, including eliminating a certain number of enemies, interacting with laptops, or destroying certain items of interest, and then exiting the level by reaching the "escape hatch." To aid in this endeavor, players can run, slide, and climb certain objects, usually indicated by snow-covered handholds.

The gameplay mechanics of I Am Your Beast are very similar to that of Hotline Miami. Players usually enter a level without any equipment (with some exceptions from level to level) and can find weapons or items to use around the level or picked up off of enemies. When a weapon is picked up, Alphonse can throw the weapon to stun an enemy, knocking them to the ground where the player can finish them off with a stomp. Like in Hotline Miami, guns cannot be reloaded. Unlike in Hotline Miami, however, players and enemies do not die in one shot, though enemies can be killed by a single headshot in most cases, while the player has health that can only be restored through gathering up poultice bushes (which regenerate health) or take the medical kits used by the COI (regenerating health instantly.) For one portion of the game, the player must also complete several levels while under a bleeding effect, constantly draining health.

A variety of items, tactics, and weapons are available to the player in a level, with several being introduced over the course of the game. The player can carry one weapon at a time, including a pistol, shotgun, assault rifle, and sniper rifle (which Alphonse does not use the scope for), or a melee weapon, such as a piece of tree bark or a conventional combat knife, alongside a single piece of equipment, including bear traps, claymores, and RPGs, all of which must usually be found within the level. Later in the game, players can also gather armor to add an additional layer of protection. The player can also interact with several objects in the environment, being able to kill enemies by explosions through explosive barrels and through swarms of insects by shooting beehives.

Enemies utilize the weapons and equipment listed above, with some even placing their own instances of equipment to catch the player. Later in the game, enemies with armor are introduced, necessitating either a headshot or additional damage. Additionally, several aerial threats are present, including an attack chopper, which will perform strafing runs regardless of whether or not it has spotted Harding. Airstrikes can also occur in some levels, usually in those with satellites, allowing the player to delay those strikes by destroying the satellites. Enemies will also comment on the players actions through their communicators (appearing as portraits on the upper-left side of the HUD), commenting on whether or not Harding has been detected, on which weapon he picks up, and other actions he performs, including whether or not he throws items or goes for headshots. These portraits can also cut to static if the enemy speaking is killed.

A grading system is also present, where, at the end of a level, the player is judged for how fast they beat the level, from C to S rank. Kills will decrease the overall time (shown as an increase to the gold bar at the top of the player's screen indicating their current rank), and certain types of kills will provide a further bonus. For example, kills with a thrown knife will provide less bonus time than a kill through an explosive.

Plot

Alphonse Harding is a former operative of the Covert Operations Initiative, implied to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, but has been called back for several jobs despite his retirement, each of which is also implied to be his "last job." When Harding discovers and kills a squad of COI agents in the forest he lives in, his former superior, General Charles Burkin, attempts to call him back for an additional job. Despite Burkin's attempts to convince Harding that he owes him for the squad that he killed, Harding retorts that Burkin owes him for the several "last jobs" he had him perform past his retirement, demanding that Burkin pull his agents back. When Burkin refuses, Harding begins to carry out a series of raids on the COI agents stationed there, using a tunnel system to escape his pursuers. After Harding carries out several raids, Burkin opts to call in a demolitions squad to destroy the forest, angering Harding.

Later on, a COI agent named Byron Ford contacts Harding on an abandoned COI communicator frequency, offering intelligence on the developments of Burkin's manhunt in exchange for being spared, to which Harding agrees. He continues to raid the camps the COI puts up, destroying their equipment and killing their personnel, with Ford informing him of the deployment of riflemen, an attack chopper invulnerable to conventional firearms, and shock troops with armor.

After several additional raids, Burkin, with support from the United States government, declares Harding unfit for duty, and declares that he will be executed at the earliest opportunity, with Ford later informing that Burkin is "calling in every favor he's got" against Harding. After further raids, Ford then informs that Burkin is also preparing the attack chopper for deployment, also revealing that he has been piloting it, as the COI is aware of his family, and has a copy of the keys to his home. Byron also directs Harding to a COI camp with both the copy of the keys and heavy artillery as to give Harding a fighting chance.

Using RPGs, Harding downs the chopper, rescuing Byron from the wreckage out of gratitude and removes a tracker from his leg, allowing Ford to escape undetected by the COI with his family. Afterward, Burkin declares that he will finish his manhunt of Harding, but Harding is once again able to destroy more COI equipment and kill more COI personnel.

Unable to take any more losses, Burkin concedes to Harding and pulls back his forces, though not before warning Harding that more individuals will attempt to attack Harding and that he will not be able to protect Harding anymore, with Harding replying that Burkin's job was never to protect him.

Some time later, Harding recounts in his diary his discovery of additional abandoned COI camps, and writes how he feels less of the COI's influence, hopeful for his future.

Reception

I Am Your Beast received Very Positive reviews on Steam four days after its release.