This review marks the second of two reviews of Strange Scaffold games. Last week, Clickolding’s oddness intrigued Kimari. Here, Ronald looks into last week’s release, I Am Your Beast.

By Ronald Gordon 

Initially, I couldn’t come up with the words to describe my experience. Having just beaten the game I had nothing on my mind but the exhilarating rush of momentum and action I had experienced. Once my mind took a second to cool down, I realized that I Am Your Beast is a lot more than just a bloody massacre, it’s the sad story of a man trying not to be the monster he was made into. 

I Am Your Beast is a fast-paced covert revenge thriller FPS from Strange Scaffold, and it’s one of the most invigorating FPS games I’ve come to experience. You play as Alphonse Harding, an agent of the Covert Operations Initiative (COI) who is ignoring the call of one last job. He still has a heart, though, and wants to live in peace – until the enemies’ killing of a bird in the forest angers him greatly. The deep-seated corruption of the world and its governing bodies has weighed on him, as have the results of prior jobs he’s done for the COI.  Harding would rather die than take another order from his superior. So, in what General Burkin calls “a foolish tantrum,” Harding kills every agent he finds. He is the beast that the COI made him into to protect his home within the forest. 

Following the speed blitz style of gameplay that is attributed to many great FPS games such as Ultrakill, I Am Your Beast makes movement your advantage against enemies. You can run, jump, climb, and slide your way across all of the maps, making yourself much harder to hit and often leaving enemies scrambling to try and find you. Then comes the FPS side of the game, where you thin the herd of enemies with bullets, bombs, and bloody knives as you dash your way through the snowy northern forest you reside in. The game consists of various levels you play through, each one different from the last as Harding does everything he can to ensure the COI has a hard time making it in his forest. From killing other agents to cutting communications to even shooting down their attack helicopter, every level has something different to offer. Even their own hidden objectives add a bit of flair to your victory.  

Each level gives you a letter grade at the end, which is not only a marker of how fast you completed it but also how much variety you added to your kills within the level. At first, I didn’t really like it, as I was adjusting and couldn’t get above a C. But when I hit a wall where I required an A grade in any level to continue playing, I realized that the game was a lot more than just a fast shoot-em-up. Tactics, creativity, and a small bit of precision are what make the game different from every other. Mastering those three things lets you make it through any of the challenges thrown at you. In my four hours of playtime, I went from a complete newbie to someone who could consistently get As and even Ss, the highest grade you can get, in most of the levels, and I kept wanting more. 

The only things I could suggest in terms of improvement are slight changes to level design and movement. At times, the levels are easy to maneuver around, but there are moments when a rock can trip you up or a jump is somehow too shallow no matter how hard you try. Something else that would be great is a more advanced quick turn. While the game already has a button that allows you to turn 180 degrees in a second, it would be great if you could snap to the left or right in the same time. 

Harding quickly became one of my favorite characters in gaming, and I don’t even have a face to remember him by! Since Beast is an FPS, you never see his face or his body. Hearing the dialogue he shared with characters like General Charles Burkin or Agent Byron Ford, the one friend he made within the years of bloodshed, Harding sounds tired. His voice is haggard and worn down, which is a stark contrast to the way he moves during the levels. Yet in between the moments of bickering between him and Burkin, Harding also has playful moments with Agent Ford, even admitting that he hadn’t realized how important their unorthodox friendship had been. Harding may be a worn-down soldier that was made into a violent killing machine, but at the end of the day he remained what he was in the beginning: A person trying to live a life of their own. 

I Am Your Beast has such a good soundtrack that each day I check time and again for the OST to be released on Spotify or YouTube – or anywhere. Oftentimes I find myself repeating the last level not only because it is one of the best in the game, but because the final song may as well be tattooed into my brain. From metal to dubstep to dramatic piano, I Am Your Beast accentuates every level in a way that lights a fire in your heart and makes every victory that much more exciting. The artstyle feels reminiscent to older stealth games like Metal Gear Solid with a hint of Borderlands’ character outlines added in. Very simple blocky textures with detailing in the finer bits adds to the overall character of the game, and having each nameless goon look the same with varying voices makes it easier to immerse yourself into Harding’s mindset; they’re all just toy soldiers for Berkin. 

I Am Your Beast is a raucous game of gun and gore galore, and I can’t stop myself from opening it whenever I open Steam. The level design is fantastic, the combat & movement are both amazing, and I’m still waiting eagerly for the day that Strange Scaffold releases the OST to the public. I will probably continue to listen to it for the next five plus years. If you’re in the market for an experience that will leave you shouting in excitement, I urge you to play I Am Your Beast. It’s everything you could ever want in an FPS, and then some! 

Ronald Gordon is a New York Videogame Critics Circle Member & Mentor. He was the first of our writers – or any intern anywhere – to complete an internship at Rockstar Games.

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