I have a soft spot in my heart for top down action RPGs, so when I saw Forced come across my desk while browsing Steam one day, I immediately added it to my wish list. Somewhere along the way it got lost in a sea of other titles that I wished for and I kind of forgot about it. This happens a lot to me. Something else that happens a lot recently though is smaller PC games transitioning to the console space due to those platforms opening up a bit. Forced is one of those titles that has made the jump. As I generally enjoy playing games in front of my television with a controller a bit more than I do sitting at my desk crouching over my mouse and keyboard, this seemed like a prime opportunity to finally give Forced a try.
Upon starting, the game gave me a bit of backstory about what my quest was. Bred specifically as tribute to the gods, I was a gladiator of sorts destined to one day be thrown down a dark hole and begin my trials. Turns out that day was today and as I pick myself off the ground, I’m greeted by a gloating, glowing orb thing that has attached itself to me as my guide. I’m also introduced to a very angry minotaur with a very generic name that I’ve already forgotten. The orb runs the gladiators through a quick training regimen that allowed me to get a feel for the overall controls of the game.
Forced plays a bit like a twin stick shooter, as you’ll move with the left stick and aim and direct with the right stick, while actions and abilities are tied to other buttons. It’s not a far different setup from other games I’ve played but for some reason, Forced felt awkward for me while playing. And it didn’t matter what class I was playing, it all felt off.
The game has four different classes that can be played, each signified by their weapon of choice. I generally play an archer in games like this as I prefer to stand back and clear out enemies, while offering support and cover to my co-op partners running as melee or tank characters. As such, I initially chose the Storm Bow. Playing solo as the Storm Bow class though turned out to not be a very good choice. Unlike what I expected, Forced isn’t your standard isometric action-RPG. Instead of having sprawling levels with tons of loot, Forced locks each area off with a handful of levels that are designed to be played quickly, and repeatedly. Some of the levels will have simple objectives like clear out all the enemies in the arena, while others add in puzzle elements that involve moving platforms or navigating a maze. Sadly while attempting these trials I was often quickly overrun by enemies making it something of a chore to play as my chosen class. The attack speed just wasn’t fast enough for me.
I next chose the Spirit Knives, a dual bladed killer reminiscent of one of my favorite fantasy characters, Drizzt Do’Urden. It was a bit of a better choice for me, although I still found myself overwhelmed more often than not. That sense of being overwhelmed is entirely on purpose though. Forced is designed very clearly around co-op. It even says so as you boot up the game, declaring that if you are playing solo, you’ll get your ass kicked. Adding in another player or two makes most of the level’s enemies and solving puzzles a touch more manageable. That is of course if you can get it to work.
I tried multiple attempts to play with randoms and never got anywhere. This could be no fault of the game, there just might not be a population to support playing with randoms. Worse though was when I recruited my Critically Sane pals to play. All three of us dropped into the game and both my partners immediately lost control of their characters. Tony was able to make one movement after each pause of the game, such as moonwalking all the way across the opening platform. Don on the other hand wasn’t even able to do that as he was completely locked from doing anything, nor was he able to even tell us what was happening with him as his in-game chat was disabled too. After quite a bit of time, and nearly quitting, we solved the issue by communicating in an Xbox Live party instead of the in-game system. You shouldn’t have to circumvent the game to get it to work and it really makes me wonder if playing with randoms would even be possible.
Once we stopped laughing (and cursing) at the absurdity of the situation, we did make some progress in the game driving through the first area of levels and a good chunk of the second. Guess what? Co-op makes everything more fun. Fighting off enemies and figuring out the puzzles together was quite a bit of fun. The game can still get overwhelming though and that isn’t fun. And the fun aspects were not enough fun to keep Tony and Don engaged to come back for more. As a game designed around playing with other people, that by itself is the game’s biggest failing.
Without my co-op partners I was left to an overwhelming and frustrating solo experience and I honestly could not force myself to play much more of it. I didn’t finish Forced. I’m sure there are players out there that will finish Forced solo and they will love it. And if you can get a group that wants to play with you, then even better because the game is designed around that type of play. If you are in either of those lines, Forced does offer up a ton of extra play by way of challenges and timed runs with leaderboards for each of its trials and might be worthwhile for you if you can avoid the technical issues. For everyone else though, including me, it just doesn’t deliver.
This review was written with material provided by the publisher on the Xbox One console. For more on our review process, please read here.
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