Introduction
A Metroidvania platform-shooter that introduces you to the nation of Hannisout, where the government has decided to subtract all cybernetic resources around to ensure an advantage on the worldwide conflict going on. A rebel group rises against the government to retrieve the resources for hospitals, which are struggling to help injured civilians. Amid the civil war, your father gets caught up in an explosion and is rushed to the hospital. However, the facility lacks the tools to save him. Desperate, you find the help of an ex-rebel, who tells you where their base is. Determinate to help, you embark on a journey to find the needed pieces but soon discover that every choice has a consequence...
2133 mixes the fast-paced combat and intricate level design of award nominee "Hollow Knight" with the moral complexity of "Papers, Please" and "Undertale", to allow users the freedom to discover their moral compass through interfacing with the game's mechanics.
Gameplay
Game Design
Employing Team Cherry's 'Hollow Knight' as inspiration, I wanted to recreate the feel and mechanics of an old Metroidvania. The player can shoot, jump twice and wall jump, which opens a plethora of possibilities in terms of level design for a 30-minute experience.
Shooting and the Harvest mechanic
The game's main feature and the point on which the moral sphere of the game rotates around is the player's choice to either stun or kill the enemies they face. In the former case, the player will gain nothing besides stopping the enemies from further shooting them. In the latter, the player will be able to harvest the cybernetics from the enemy they killed and either enhance themselves or repair previous damage. (+1 life)
Harvest (Before)
Harvest (After)
When harvesting enemies, the player will see the enemy's blood splattering on the screen and hear the gruesome sound of flesh/organs being torn apart. With neither judgment for their choice nor acknowledgement of the choice being made, I inserted these visuals and sounds to remind the player of the (virtual) homicide they committed. The question being, for how long could they withstand the sound before it influenced their choice?
In the current version of the game, the choice to stun or kill the game's final boss leads to different narrative outcomes.
Level Design
First Level
Level 1
The first level starts on the roofs of the buildings right above the station. According to the doctor you meet at the begommomg, the station will contain an entrance to the rebels' layer.
In the level, the player has to collect one material and a key to progress to the following section. There is also an NPC on the top left of the level, which introduces players to the killing and harvesting mechanic. At the beginning of the level, I employed one of Metroidvanias' classic mechanics of previewing an area which can not be accessed yet by inserting a soft lock in the form of a locked door. The goal was both to engage the user to reach that area and to guide them toward the location of the key. Once reached, the shortcut allows them to fall right through the initial section to the left and quickly arrive at the station entrance. The station section relies more heavily on platforming. As wall jumping does not work on the final wall, the player will have to repeat the whole path if they fall.
Level 1 (Textured)
Second Level
Level 2
Once you enter the rebel's base, you encounter the rebels' leader, who refuses to help you due to the government's action against the group. They will instead leave you to fight with their teammates.
Since the rebel's base is also a factory for their own soldiers, the second level features conveyor belts which push players in different directions when they are on top of them. After having fought with the rebels and passed the conveyor belts section, users will find the material and the key near to each other. At that point, another dialogue (in the form of a call) will occur and the player will have to reach the top right corner area to enter the final boss battle.
Level 2 (Textured)
Screenshots
