HALT
This run-and-gun platformer isn’t my usual cup of tea, but I thought I would give this colorful game a try. The artwork initially captured my attention as I sat down to play the demo. The scenes and dialogue for this game are in a comic book style, and it is very well done: it is clear the dev has done their homework on the style they want for the game.
The story unfolds in an intriguing way: you play as Chris Tracey, a trainee cop with amnesia who is tasked with keeping the streets of “The City” of New Memories safe from various hooligans. The city is full of individuals who are experiencing amnesia, just like Chris. The intro is cinematic and flashy which may be sensitive to those who are photosensitive — I found I needed to look away from the screen at times. The tutorial itself is full of all kinds of quips; which kept me laughing as I was getting a handle on the game’s simple controls. HALT has a great diversity of characters in this game; the main character seems non-binary until her pronouns are used and each of the characters she meets all have iconic looks and personalities.
HALT isn’t just visually colorful, it’s also colorful in narrative. There are quite a few f-bombs dropped during the demo and there are a few dick jokes (that were honestly, maybe a little too much for my taste). This game is definitely aimed at those who enjoy comics and adult cartoons. Although the final boss was a challenge for me, I really enjoyed the creativity of movement needed in order to win. I left feeling like I wanted to keep playing after the demo ended because a whole cast of cool new characters were introduced, most of which seemed to be genderfluid like the main character.
Overall, HALT has some great cinematic cutscenes and animation, the story is engaging, and the gameplay is challenging without being soul-crushing. I love the effort the developer put in to include a diverse cast of characters in his game as well like how the main character and the big boss both are identified as female.
I’m definitely looking forward to exploring this top-down RPG run-and-gun fusion further as more content is made available.
Puppet: So who are you and what are you working on?
Nattie: I’m a game developer and I’m currently working on HALT. It’s an RPG with run-and-gun elements. And it’s also story-driven.
Puppet: OK, can you tell me a little bit more about HALT and what inspired it?
Nattie: HALT was mostly inspired by like… Wow, I guess I could say like, the game that made me wanna make games was probably like, Cave Story. ‘Cause you hear the dev’s story and it’s so inspiring. But yeah, I just grew up with like, RPGs, and like Mario and Luigi RPGs… I grew up with like Metal Slug. So really this has been a passion project for many years, since like 2015. So it’s just been me putting in the games I love and trying to tell a story that I care about.
Puppet: Yeah, for sure. And is the game released, and when do you think that will be?
Nattie: So we have the demo public right now, it’s available on our itch.io page. Right now we’re kinda like at an early alpha stage, we’re still looking to like, you know–it’s still in development. But probably we’re looking at like a year and a half development window, around there, before anything close to release. So yeah.
Puppet: OK. Awesome. Yeah. So tell me about some of the characters in this game. That was what really drew me in, was a lot of these run-and-gun games don’t have the depth of story that I noticed in your game, so can you tell me about some of the characters?
Nattie: Oh yeah, for sure. So in the game you play as Chris Tracy. So she’s a detective that works for the HPD, which is the Hull Police Department. And they’re this private law enforcement that protects the City of New Memories, where nobody remembers anything about their past. So Chris Tracy doesn’t really know who she is, but she knows that she has to be a good cop. That’s like, all she knows. So the game, you follow Chris Tracy’s adventure trying to protect the city and do her job, and also all her friends, like Turner Chase, who’s just kind of like, her wacky roommate, and also Diablo, who’s like, the Chief that loves you, but who’s also like, really intense and overbearing… So um, yeah, that’s a little bit about some of the characters. And you’re fighting against this crew called The Human. And it’s all these people that like, wear costumes and they’re all named after a different body part, because they’re all like, human… So, there’s like Mr. Eye and Mr. Mouth, and all these characters.
Puppet: Oh, cool. Yeah, at the end of the demo, you introduced a bunch of different characters, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I wanna know more! I wanna see more about them!’ ’cause they all looked so unique.
Nattie: Yeah.
Puppet: Tell me about the artwork, did you do the art?
Nattie: Yes. Yeah, I’m the artist and animator. I went to school for animation, so… Yeah, I just love drawing monsters and doing different types of designs. I think doing the character designs and the enemy designs has always been one of my favorite parts when it came to designing the art. I love just like, making crazy robot skeletons, or just using all vibrant colors. To me that’s really eye-popping. For the art style, a lot of people have compared it to like, Scott Pilgrim and stuff. I’m really inspired also by cartoons and comics in general, so yeah, stuff like Adventure Time, Scott Pilgrim, Steven Universe were some of my big inspirations.
Puppet: Very cool! If you could go back in time and change something and/or give yourself advice, what would you say to yourself?
Nattie: Wow, go back in time? Give myself advice? That’s a tough question, ‘cause I feel like I don’t regret anything particularly. You know, the journey has been really fun and really nice and I like where it’s taken me. But I’d say probably like, more focus. ’Cause sometimes we might change stuff about a project or go in different directions, but really it’s all about really knowing what you wanna do and where you wanna go with a project, or a story, or an art style, or anything that you’re creating, really. I think if I could go back in time and give myself advice, it’d just be like, ‘Do what you love.’ And that might sound kinda cheesy, but it really is just the best thing that’s gonna help you. So, yeah.
Puppet: Nice. Awesome. And is it just you working on this game, or are there other people involved?
Nattie: Right, so I’m the lead developer but RJ from Unbeatable, he’s a director on Unbeatable, he’s the composer and also helps out with the biz-dev and logistics and stuff like that. And we just kinda met as I was developing the project, and he hopped on and has helped me a lot, like figure out some stuff for the game, and do the music, and… yeah.
Puppet: Yeah, kind of like a mentor type of thing?
Nattie: Yeah, pretty much. So yeah, it’s been really nice, us working together and seeing this thing come together more and more.
Puppet: Yeah, that’s awesome. Well thank you so much, I have been Puppet and this has been HALT. Thanks for joining me.
Nattie: Yeah, thank you! It’s been a pleasure.
coverage by
Emily Kind
transcription by