Bright Memory is an unusual first-person shooter / slasher on Unreal Engine 4, which is essentially being developed by one person. In addition to impressive graphics with RTX support, the game boasts a very dynamic and interesting gameplay. True, there are several nuances.

Message from the editor: Our defenders from the 115th brigade, which is now fighting in the east, need a pickup truck . Details for transferring funds to a monobank card – Polyanskaya Karine Sergeevna, card number 5375414101372265. We ask you to take part in the fundraising.
Glory to Ukraine!

Launched in Steam Early Access back in January 2019, Bright Memory immediately caught the attention of gamers. Impressive graphics, an unusual combat system and … a surprisingly low price. And also the fact that behind the development of this game, the appearance of which projects of many large studios can envy, was only one person, one Zeng Xiancheng from China. Back in August 2017, Zeng received a $204,000 grant from Epic Games to develop an Unreal Engine 4 game. this in his spare time from his main job.

Initially, the author planned to finish the first episode of Bright Memory before the end of 2019, adding about two hours of gameplay to the game. But, as is often the case with novice developers, he somewhat overestimated his strength. In addition, Zeng wanted to change many things in his original draft, to expand and complete it. Again, some time was spent on finalizing and optimizing the graphics, including the introduction of support for RTX technology.

As a result, Zeng Xiancheng decided to complete the development of what was called Bright Memory: Episode 1 and release the game from Early Access. Instead, focus on a new project, Bright Memory: Infinite – an updated, improved and expanded version of the game. At the same time, the author promises that all buyers of Bright Memory after the release of Bright Memory: Infinite will receive a coupon for a 100% discount on purchase. It is worth considering that there were quite a few buyers: according to our estimates, Bright Memory was purchased by 500,000 to 750,000 people. Which is not surprising, because right now and until April 1, 2020, the game costs only UAH 86 on Steam. for Ukraine (in the USA, for example, the price is about $6.5). So what is Bright Memory now, as the game came out of Early Access?

This is a short, only 25-35 minutes, fast-paced adventure that tells about the mission of an SRO (Supernatural Science Research Organization) agent named Shelia, who arrives at the SRO research center with the goal of preventing SAI terrorists from stealing a valuable artifact that can supposedly revive the dead . As a result of a shootout, a teleporter crashes and Shelia, along with the terrorists who got into the building, is abandoned on a mysterious flying island somewhere near the North Pole, where strange things begin to happen due to the presence of a powerful artifact. Some unusual abilities also appear in Shelia.

According to the plot, Bright Memory reminded me of a mixture of the Darkest of Days shooter, which tells about patrol time trying to put interference in history, and … the Chasm: The Rift shooter from Kiev Action Forms, released in 1997. However, unlike the two games mentioned above, in Bright Memory, it’s more about the influence of two different worlds on each other, but a variety of mutant animals, rebellious skeletons and animal soldiers here are very in the spirit of Chasm: The Rift, as well as a strange mix of high technologies and some fantasy environments.

But in terms of gameplay, Bright Memory is a hybrid of Bulletstorm and Dark Souls . It combines hurricane shooting, the use of a sword and combo attacks, like in Bulletstorm, and the need to constantly dodge, monster-filled arenas and an abundance of bosses clearly refer to Dark Souls. Thank goodness Bright Memory isn’t that hard on players, though in some arenas you’ll have to die more than once, especially during your first playthrough.

In addition to the actual hurricane action in the arenas, the game has examples of several first-person puzzles in the spirit of Tomb Raider . Considering that Shelia herself looks like an anime version of Lara Croft, the resemblance becomes completely striking.

As mentioned above, Bright Memory has only 30 minutes of gameplay. If you die a lot (and the game keeps count of deaths), the first playthrough will stretch for an hour. The author suggests going through the game again, because. during the first playthrough, you are unlikely to discover all the abilities of Shelia, which you need to buy for the experience earned in the process of killing opponents. During the second and third playthroughs, you can try to improve your score in the leaderboard. Before the release of Bright Memory, the author added several additional free costumes for Sheila to the game, including a Japanese school uniform.

Bright Memory is a short game, it’s just a sketch of what it could be in the form of Bright Memory: Infinite. But this is the case when we recommend supporting the developer. First, such efforts are clearly worth supporting; secondly, in a year or two you will get a full-fledged big game, thirdly, the price of Bright Memory is really surprisingly low. And you can see how Bright Memory: Infinite will look like in the end in the trailer below. Honestly, it’s impressive.