The Desolate Hope starts with a monologue that is vague and short that leads to you being told that you’re a program that will borrow the body of a coffee machine capable of movement. Your job is to help four active robots or derelicts maintain their simulations. Each of the simulations is meant to help create a suitable environment for humans although each derelict creates a different simulation that aids you on your mission to create a suitable home. These characters are named Malenz, Mirad, Bio-Beta, Alphus, and Amos. Amos has stopped working, however, and all of the simulations have viruses that need to be fought off, which is when you step in.
The game is split up into two different times, day and night. Throughout the day, you can enter any simulation if the specific robot allows you to, so you can locate and attack the virus. Each simulation has its own robot virus and also has many really small enemies to fight to which drop an egg or a bit upon death. Bits are the form of currency in this game that allows you to buy many things like higher damage in battles, higher accuracy, and the ability to deal more damage outside of battles. While you are in a simulation, you can traverse the unique world that was created by the robot while shooting enemies with a laser ball which could drop either bits or an egg of a specific variety that is determined for that specific enemy. These eggs add to a meter that grants a temporary upgrade while fighting a virus which provides health, defense, speed, and attack. To get other buffs, there are shops in each simulation that vary from a once-per-battle second chance when fighting or a hover pack that lets you jump higher when using it.
The battles consist of controlling the moves performed by one’s team-of-four. A player can select one move out of nine inputs– eight of those are unique to each derelict. The first option is always to charge the robot to make it possible to use various moves. The amount of charge needed to execute the different moves varies according to where the move is in the sequence so that’s how much charge the move requires to be used excluding charge which is free. After finding a secret item, you can repair Amos which gives it a chance to appear whenever a bot is not doing anything and not ready.
Throughout the night-section of the game, the player can run along the outside and collect trinkets that specific derelicts like. If the item is given to the derelicts, it will cause them to trust you more and have to fight for you harder. If the derelict likes you enough you are allowed to enter the simulation, and if not you won’t be able to enter. There is also the secret collectible that allows you to repair Amos to be active in battle again. The player is only allowed to make three trips in total until they can no longer collect goods to upgrade the derelicts which prompts a space invaders type of game that results in collecting extra bits in exchange for killing each one.
This game was made by Scott Cawthon who is known for creating the hip game: Five Nights at Freddy’s. The graphics of this game are quite different for 2014 in that he used a unique style that can also be found on more of his early works such as The Desolate Room and Chipper and Sons Lumber Co. The Desolate Hope is truly a great free game although I recommend to tread with caution because this game contains a lot of bright flashing lights that can be disorting. 6.3/10
