STANDBY Demo

Speed running is quite the popular activity among gamers, especially when it comes to games that are not designed to be completed quickly. Hence, people pride themselves when they manage to finish S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in fifteen minutes or Half-Life 2 in under two hours. On the other hand, developers have created a separate genre for those who want to move quickly and show off their skills.

STANDBY is a 2D platformer in which the main idea is to get to the end of each stage as quickly as possible. However, the gameplay mechanics are incredibly fast-paced as well, which should technically allow you to move as efficiently as possible, at least as long as you manage to react to every trap. Not only that, but the game even includes a dedicated speed running mode.

As far as the story is concerned, there’s not much to say in this regard, because it all revolves around a man who tries to beat a broken game. In essence, the game in question was infected by something called the Glitch, which means that almost everything is deadly if you happen to touch it. Thankfully, your character has a few tricks at his disposal as well.

Since everything moves so incredibly fast, it’s important that you keep an eye on the game at all times, because even a second can be too much if you plan to get to the end of the level alive. You can jump, slide, and shoot your gun in order to stay alive, but all of them need to be used in combination to make sure that you get the most out of the character.

As for the graphics and the rest of the technical details, the game is obviously very rudimentary in this regard, although that’s not usually a problem in platformers. On the other hand, it may be a tad difficult to see the way forward sometimes because of the weird color scheme, but that’s not a constant issue.

In the end, STANDBY could use some improvement when it comes to graphics and level design, but the gameplay is quite alert and challenging. Hence, if you enjoy speedrunning and you do not mind the fast pace, this could keep you busy for a while.