Publisher: Infinite State
Developer: Infinite State
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: E
Donโt Die, Mr. Robot โ or, as it was called until its developers became skittish about potential lawsuits, Avoid Droid โ seems like the sort of game that couldโve been released at virtually any time in the history of video games. It may be a Vita game now, but Iโm pretty sure that it couldโve been released on a mobile device, PS360, or NES, and no one wouldโve batted an eye. Obviously, depending on the system thereโd probably be some graphical upgrades or downgrades, but all in all, that tells you something about the timelessness of Donโt Die, Mr. Robotโs gameplay.
Whether that something is good or bad, of course, is open to a little debate. For the most part, Iโd say itโs good. Donโt Die, Mr. Robot (which Iโll just call DDMR from here on out in the interests of space) is built around one simple mechanic: as its former title implied, helping the titular droid (er, Robot) avoid enemies. Thatโs pretty much the extent of the whole game. There are wrinkles here and there โ some levels ask you to last as long as you can, others call for X number of kills in X time, still others are score-based, and so on โ but in general, what youโre doing on the first level of the game is pretty similar to what youโre doing hours and hours later.
Which is where the bad โ or, at least, the sort of bad โ comes in. DDMR is definitely a little repetitive. If you donโt enjoy the act of avoiding enemies and snatching up explosive fruits at first, itโs not like the game introduces some crazy new mechanics later on that will make you rethink everything you know about DDMR. What you see at first is, more or less, what you get.
To which I say: thatโs a big part of the appeal. DDMR is the sort of game you can pick up for a couple of minutes at a time. Youโre guaranteed to instantly remember exactly what youโre supposed to do (itโs practically in the title!), and you can chase high scores between classes or bus stops without worrying about having to remember a bunch of stuff.
And thatโs really what makes it such a timeless game. Much like like Pong, or Pac-Man, or Tetris, DDMR only really does one thing, but it does that one thing extraordinarily well. I mean, Donโt Die, Mr. Robot is nowhere near as essential as those gamesโฆbut at the same time, itโs at least addictive enough that you can mention it in a not-too-distant proximity to them and not have it sound like the craziest thing ever.