‘Savant’ moveset simple but high scores hard to achieve

Published 10:11 pm Thursday, August 8, 2013

“Savant: Ascent” is the most fun I’ve ever had for $2. It’s also a great example of what independently developed video games can (and perhaps even should) be.

The setup is simple. You play Savant, a thief, who is presumably (clad in an outfit that would make Cyrano de Bergerac jealous and sporting a Guy Fawkes-esque mask), ejected from the top of a tower while attempting to steal a mysterious and powerful orb. It’s the player’s job to fend off the hordes of creatures that assail you in your attempt to scale the tower once more.

Did I mention that you scale the tower by riding atop a rapidly ascending elevator and that you fend off the monsters by shooting a flurry of magic attacks and that it’s all underscored by a thumping dubstep soundtrack?

Because that’s what happens.

And it’s awesome.

Everything just comes together perfectly here. The shooting feels like the odd intersection of traditional arcade shoot-em-ups (think “Galaga”) and the more modern “twin stick shooters” (i.e. “Geometry Wars,” “Super Stardust HD”) found today. You can only jump back and forth between the two rapidly ascending elevators, but enemies assault you from all angles, forcing you to constantly be aware of impending doom in 360 degrees.

Don’t be fooled by the deceptively limited moveset and environment. It’s one of those games that’s easy to pick up but takes a decent bit of time and ridiculous amount of concentration to get good at, especially if you’re trying to rack up a high score or accomplish a flawless run.

The game is quick. You can run through the whole thing from start to finish in less than 10 minutes if you’re good enough. And yet I (collectively) played this thing for at least a couple hours and I kept wanting to go back to it. That arcade sensibility of “just one more try” permeates the entire thing from start to finish. It’s a sensation that I honestly haven’t felt this genuinely in a long, long time.

It’s a little difficult to believe this was put together in just over a month’s time by a team of less than a half dozen people. Though, I guess that’s what happens when you’re doing something out of passion and not a deadline, and it’s clear that D-Pad Studio has a lot of passion for what they do.

The only bit I was leery of was the dubstep soundtrack. I have a love/hate relationship with the style (in that I hate that I love it). I should hate it. And yet I don’t. The tunes that artist Savant (the game is named after and stars Aleksander Vinter’s musical avatar/mascot) has selected for this provide an infectious burst of energy to the proceedings. The pulsing electronic beats seem like they would clash horrendously with the 17th century setting and character design, and yet it somehow works perfectly together.

I said above that “Savant: Ascent” represents much of what indie games should be. By that I meant that this was a project that wasn’t put together because it was going to meet shareholder expectations or land on a bunch of Game of the Year lists (though it may well end up on mine). Instead, this was a game that a few people got together and made on a whim simply because they could and because they wanted to. The result is a game that is undeniably fun and brimming with personality. I’m not sure I could ask more out of a video game these days.

“Savant: Ascent” is currently available for PC with versions out soon for Android and iOS devices. You can download the game via the website at www.savantgame.com.