The Persistence Preview

The Persistence is a first person sci-fi horror gauntlet, a test of courage that pits you against enemies with no remorse. Set on a large spaceship that gives the game it’s name, The Persistence, your goal is to make it through a maze of ever changing corridors and eerily dark rooms in search of why this is happening and escape. The Persistence is a game that changes, with every death comes a new map layout which adds another element of fear and confusion as you slowly move along waiting for the next scare.

Originally intended for VR, The Persistence still holds shock value with great visuals and sound on Xbox. Panels glow and spark down an otherwise pitch black corridor revealing outlines of something laying in wait. Noises of things moving behind walls and steel grates falling from above, this all sets the tone for a great horror experience. The enemies are very well designed with absolutely terrifying character design. Some of these enemies just sit in a dark corner just waiting for you to walk around the corner then jump up at you with a terrifying scream making you throw your hands up yelling “NOPE, I’M DONE!”.

You have an arsenal of weapons by your side, but not your usual type of weapons; sure there’s the standard variants like pistols and automatic weapons, but they have a sci-fi twist. Your main weapon can be used to send a thread out to an unsuspecting enemies head and start draining the enemy of life points – or cells if you will – which you can use later to upgrade yourself. Another weapon is bow shaped syringe which when injected into an enemy, they are now on your team attacking the closest enemy to it. Spinning blades that zing around and grenades that can turn you invisible and so many other cool gadgets, the list goes on.

You also have the ability to change your appearance, since when you perish you are brought back via the power of cloning and get to choose an unlocked character which may have better statistics or strengths. You can also buy the typical perks like health, attack and defence which is what cells are for as mentioned earlier.

Apart from the main campaign there are also a heap of time trial type challenges to attempt with objectives like reach the escape pod only using a knife so obviously stealth is key there, then escape to the pod using infinite ammo with a heavy weapon, you get the idea.

Conclusion

The Persistence is a high quality horror experience and I urge any horror fan to try this one out. Top notch graphics and sound coupled with tight gameplay, this gauntlet of screams will leave you scared and confused, but I’m sure you will make it to the end… maybe.

This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox One console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.