Released as an enhanced and extended version of the original game, Bright Memory: Infinite was originally developed by a single dev Zeng Xian Cheng with the Chinese studio FYQD Studio. A mix between Crysis and Shadow Warrior, which despite being short, presents all the possibilities that the Unreal Engine 4 still provides.
Bright Memory: Infinite is available for PC
A mythological future
On Bright Memory: Infinite we move to the year 2036 where without any explanation a black hole appears in the sky and a kind of electrical storm begins to affect the earth. Our heroine in charge of bringing order to this chaos is Agent Sheila part of the Supernatural Sciences Research Organization. As soon as we arrive in the area, we realize that this phenomenon seems to connect with an ancient civilization that materializes ancestral warriors. At the same time another group wants to take control of this power and stop our mission.
Not that the story of the game is uninteresting, but due to its short duration, it is clear that Cheng did not have time to give more context or more answers to the phenomena that occur. The same goes for Sheila, she is a stereotypical character with no past or more motivation than “saving the world.”
Obviously, the best of the story are its incredible cinematics that run with the same graphics engine as the game and that achieves a unity between the story and the gameplay. The only thing I felt against is that there is some dialogue that gets lost (I played it with Chinese audio and English subtitles) in the middle of the clash of swords and gunshots.
Armed to the eyelashes
The influence that games like the new ones is undoubted Doom, Shadow Warrior have had a small title like Bright Memory: Infinite. But also to some extent other classics such as Painkiller and also some elements of Dark souls.
Sheila starts the adventure without many laps. Not far from the game we find all the available weapons: a pistol, machine gun, shotgun and a sniper rifle. Each of these weapons can be upgraded with explosive or chasing ammunition.
We also have a sword to attack from near or far with slashes that emit rays. The combination of the sword and those movements that we are unlocking, make it a crazy hack and slash. We also have a grapple to swing or attract enemies and an impulse to push them. Sheila can wall run, double jump, and slash. There are so many options that dying in the game is more from a distracting moment than a lack of tools. We have a life bar that recharges itself and an energy bar that also does it.
The enemies are quite generic and their AI is not great but they work more like a repetition of movements that we have to remember to realize which attack from afar or how archers move; etc. The parry is the best defense against certain attacks or to return some.
The game has two moments that do not have much logic within so much action. On the one hand a level of stealth and another where we drive a car with a machine gun. Fun? Sure, but they are a bit forced. I imagine Xian Chen thinking and what else can I put?
The most challenging part of the game is the final boss battles, whether they are very large or with fast attacks.
The game ends up being very short and certainly unfinished. It is not a negative point but without a doubt it leaves us wanting to continue crushing enemies. Perhaps a horde mode would be a great addition.
Light, dust, rain, fire, bullets and action
My first impression when I saw the previous version of Bright Memory was this cannot be real. But with Infinite already finished I can confirm that it was. The visual work of the Chinese game is impressive. There is not a great variety of colors and everything feels darker, with green tones and flashes of lights; but if we think about the logic that we are in the middle of a “storm” it is forgiven that the game maintains that style.
The Unreal Engine 4 engine produces a frantic action in the movements as well as some details in the stones, the vegetation or the rain. You can even see the caps of the weapons with absolute contrast.
The sound is not that great in comparison but some weapons like the shotgun or rifle sound great with every shot. Music appears in epic moments and accompanies in final battles or cinematics.
System Requirements
MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system – OS: Windows 10 64-bit (1903) – Processor: INTEL E3-1230v2 / AMD FX-8350 – Memory: 8 GB of RAM – Graphics: NVIDIA GTX960 (4G) – DirectX: Version 11 -Storage: 13 GB of available space
RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system – OS: Windows 10 64 Bit (2004) – Processor: INTEL i7-4790K / AMD FX-9590 – Memory: 16 GB of RAM – Graphics: NVIDIA GTX1060 (6G) – DirectX: Version 12 – Storage: 13 GB available space – Additional Notes: (Hight Ray Tracing) : NVIDIA RTX 3080 / (Normal Ray Tracing) : NVIDIA RTX 3060