I Am Your Beast review – A for “awe, hell yeah”

Before I even talk about the game, I wanna tell you that when we were originally sent the code, I was excited but disappointed. The trailer was cool but playing the game originally felt sluggish, stuttering, unresponsive, and, frankly, bad. I had a whole review written up discussing the polish issues and was going to score it accordingly. But the game got pushed back slightly for polish. Did they deliver? Not only do I think they delivered, I think this game is awesome now. If you have a hankering for some fast-paced, gun-shootin’, knife-throwing, beehive-blasting chaos, try I Am Your Beast. Because of the tight deadline and obligations with a dozen other things, I have not been able to finish the updated build of the game. That being said, what I have played of the final build is a really solid game.

The trailer for I Am Your Beast really intrigued me. I love this sort of revenge-thriller narrative of one guy vs an army. Harding, our resident killer-for-hire, gets asked to go on “one last mission” but upon witnessing two of the personnel he’d be working with kill an innocent bird, he snaps. He’s tired of these missions, of this lifestyle, and just wanted to live in peace. So now you go level to level, completing different objectives all themed around stylishly killing the army that continually harasses Harding. It’s not a perfect game. There’s some good, some bad, some funny, some jank. Maybe it will appeal to you, but the question is whether or not you can handle games focused on first-person speed running.

The developers even say you can beat it in about four hours, but I’m not sure that will apply to everyone. Levels usually don’t last more than a minute or two, as enemies typically die in one or two hits. Headshots usually give you an instant kill but enemies do gain strength in later levels, giving them headgear and body armor and new weapon types. Objectives range from killing all the nearby enemies, activating certain laptops, surviving enemy waves, and even one where you have to survive a helicopter making passes at you with its turret. Because of the brisk pace, you’re incentivized to replay levels and get higher ranks.

One change brought about by the update was having levels blocked off by requiring you to get a certain amount of A ranks or complete a certain amount of bonus objectives. This isn’t something I particularly enjoy in my games. It’s not a “bonus” or “side” objective if it’s required for progression. It’s not a huge deal given levels go by so fast, but it was an annoyance. Another small annoyance is the precision needed for killing enemies by bouncing on their heads. There is a drop shadow that helps a bit but the hit box is slightly off from the shadow itself.

But I want to be clear, those annoyances are just that – annoyances. I don’t want to overhype the game but I’ve been having a lot of fun. The unnamed military constantly on intercom yelling about whatever gun you grabbed or what you just pulled off is a funny way to update the player on what actions registered. In general the humor in the game is pretty on point, with Harding during the mission interstitials truly striking fear into the different military officials trying to get him to stop.

I Am Your Beast is a silly game and it has some jank. There’s not a lot to play unless you’re the speedrunning type but what’s here is fun. The delay and patch were sorely needed and I’m glad to recommend at the very least wishlisting the game on Steam. There’s some jank, the game isn’t a looker, and it’s not very long on its own, but it’s worth checking out if you want something quick and silly. From the sick kills that start with a headshot, letting you catch a gun midair. Other times hitting a beehive or explosive barrel and taking out multiple dudes is fun too.

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