Combat Complex

About

"Combat Complex" is a twin-stick action RPG with procedurally-generated levels and loot, offering a challenging experience with hordes of enemies and legendary weapons. As you level up, customize your character with stats, skills, and talents to become a hard-to-kill tank, deadly glass cannon, or space wizard. With no level repetition, the game utilizes your skills and quick thinking to survive, allowing you to turn enemies' attacks against them.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

+11

80%

Audience ScoreBased on 45 reviews

story4 positive mentions

grinding8 negative mentions

The game features fast-paced combat and impressive gunplay mechanics, making the core gameplay loop engaging.
The unique weapon overheating mechanic encourages strategic weapon switching, adding depth to the combat experience.
The game runs well on the Steam Deck, providing a solid performance for players on that platform.

The game suffers from a lack of content and variety, with repetitive level design and generic enemy encounters.
Death results in losing all loot collected during a mission, which can be frustrating and discouraging for players.
The skill progression system is tied to achievement challenges, forcing players to play in ways they may not prefer to advance.

story
68 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
90%
4%
The game's story is minimal and primarily conveyed through unvoiced messages at the hub after missions, focusing on a generic narrative involving aliens and robots. While the industrial maps and enemy designs contribute to a horror-like atmosphere, many players find the storytelling uninspired and secondary to the gameplay, which emphasizes action and loot collection. The death penalty, which results in losing acquired gear and upgrades, adds frustration rather than depth to the narrative experience.
- “The game allows you to follow or ignore the story, as story events won't block you.”
- “It has some minimal story, which combined with the industrial-looking maps and ferocious bug and robot enemies, makes it feel kind of horrorish.”
- “The story is served in messages in the hub after every mission; it's some nonsense about aliens and robots. Just shoot, who cares about the rest.”
- “The serviceable story is provided through unvoiced message exchanges you can look at between missions as things unfold.”
- “This is a small, tight game designed for action and gameplay first, with story and other such window dressing not being a priority.”
gameplay
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
66%
11%
The gameplay is characterized by fast-paced combat and unique gunplay mechanics, with a heating system for weapons that encourages strategic use of multiple guns. While the core gameplay loop is engaging, some players find the enemy design repetitive and the lack of a musical backdrop detracts from the overall experience. Despite some criticisms regarding level design and enemy variety, the game is praised for its skill-based mechanics and innovative features, suggesting a solid foundation that could evolve into a standout title in the genre.
- “The game's fast-paced combat and impressive gunplay mechanics are a highlight, with each weapon offering a unique feel and sound.”
- “Fantastic core gameplay loop.”
- “Sure, there's a lot left to work on, but the gameplay is really solid and I think this will shape up to be one of my favorites in the genre.”
- “The bug enemies just kind of swarm you and spam kill you, while the bots range from pointless annoyance to super annoying, serving only to slow down gameplay as you wait them out.”
- “7 hours in, the loot isn't interesting, looks extremely generic with no engaging gameplay elements, the enemies are generic, the upgrade nodes on the skill tree are generic, and the levels are generic sci-fi walkways packed full of generic sci-fi clutter, both small and big.”
- “But things like 'no going back' are just horrible and contradict the whole fast-paced gameplay theme.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players note that while grinding and repetitive elements are present, the core gameplay loop remains engaging. However, the early game can feel slow and tedious, with a lot of walking and minimal action, making it necessary to frequently manage inventory and equipment to keep up with mission difficulty.
- “It's currently still a bit tedious to identify better equipment in your inventory, but you should do it at least every other mission, or if the missions get too hard.”
- “The beginning of the game is very slow and tedious, with lots of walking around very slowly and not a lot going on.”
- “The repetitive elements and grinding can become overwhelming at times.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The graphics are generally described as adequate, with a decent level of fidelity, but lack significant variety, as most elements appear similar aside from color differences. While there is some variation in enemy designs, overall, the visuals do not stand out positively or negatively.
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The absence of a music backing track has been noted as a significant drawback, with reviewers feeling that it detracts from the chaotic atmosphere the gameplay aims to create. This lack of musical accompaniment leaves the experience feeling incomplete and less engaging.
- “Firstly, there's no music backing track, which feels odd to me and doesn't lend well to the 'mayhem' the gameplay is supposed to have.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
The reviews indicate that the game's optimization is lacking, with users reporting frequent performance issues that hinder gameplay. Many players have expressed frustration over inconsistent frame rates and long loading times, suggesting that the game requires further optimization to enhance the overall experience.
- “The optimization in this game is outstanding, allowing for smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems.”
- “I appreciate how the developers focused on performance, ensuring that the game runs seamlessly across various platforms.”
- “The game's optimization is top-notch, providing a fluid experience without any noticeable lag or frame drops.”
- “The game's performance is severely lacking, leading to frequent frame drops and stuttering during gameplay.”
- “Optimization issues make it nearly impossible to enjoy the game, as it struggles to maintain a stable frame rate.”
- “Despite the potential of the game, poor optimization results in long loading times and unresponsive controls.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's stability is marred by a frustrating laser system that forces players to move cautiously, often resulting in repetitive gameplay and frequent restarts due to unexpected deaths. However, it performs well on the Steam Deck, providing a smoother experience on that platform.
- “One positive thing: it runs great on the Steam Deck.”
- “The game deploys one-hit kill lasers behind you, forcing you to only move forward. It sounds cool, but it's not. If you go forward, you die to 20 different things. In the end, you just play this as a very slow turn-based game, where you move forward, let the enemies spawn, and kill them without moving, fearing that the buggy laser system won't kill you, making you restart 10 minutes of slow walking again.”