RiftMode
What would you do if the world depended on you to save it? What if the world was threatened by an alien infestation? Do you think you could handle the pressure with ease, or would you succumb to it all? When you think about the possibilities, it can be very interesting how one would go about it, trying to become the hero that you didn’t ask to become, but the one everyone was counting on. So does the developer, Mommy’s Best Game, give us the action and the platforming skills to take on anything that may come our way? Let’s find out with ChainStaff for PC.
ChainStaff is a brutal action-platformer with a transforming spear and grappling hook, blazing weapon upgrades, and a rocking soundtrack. Aliens have attached themselves to your head! Swing, shoot, and spear your way through mutating hordes and bone-shaking boss fights, and get this thing off your head!
So before you go in trying to save the world, and more importantly, get that alien thing off your head, there are a few things that you may want to look into. First, I am not going to spoil anything for anyone. You have a staff and an alien thing on your head; nothing else needs to be said. Second, go through the options and set everything the way you want, and don’t worry about the Cheats part of the options. You are better than this, and you know it. You can play with a keyboard, but I found it easier to use a controller. And finally, with all that said, it’s time to get into the swing of things and continue…
The first thing you will notice when the game starts is the awesome guitar music by Deon van Heerdin, which is ready to pump into your veins. When you are ready to start, we learn that you, who is one Sergeant Varlette, have, well, had better days in life. Now, you have an alien thing on your head that somehow makes you a better candidate than most. And somehow, in some way, that alien thing on your head brought you back when everyone thought the worst, but now, you have this chainstaff weapon. But like with any strange thing that brought you back, you now have to go through training to make sure you understand the importance of everything.
The controls are pretty straightforward and something you should be used to. A to jump, crouch, and A to drop through the platforms; holding the LT + aiming + X to shoot, you can control the direction that you shoot, jumping, and B allows you to swing, which you can do multiple times in a row, and pressing forward and backward while swinging allows you to swing further. That’s pretty much it as far as the basics you need to know about the basics.
You will be facing a variety of enemies and bosses. You will come across humans that need to be rescued, which, when you find them, you need to make a decision. Do you suck their brains, eat their hearts, or do you rescue them? If your choice is to suck their brains, this will lead to a firepower or health increase; if you decide to eat their hearts, it also leads to a firepower or health increase but at a cost of your humanity. Either of these choices will have you being questioned about what you are doing, and you will either feel bad or, because you have an alien thing on your head, will continue the way that you do and let the feeling overcome you. The other choice is to rescue them, and then the humans will be thankful for rescuing them. What will your decision be?
You will also come across Star Spores that you need to find. This allows you to access different stages. But besides that, this is where the aggressive wildlife and creatures come from and why they are mutated. And it’s not as simple as going from point A to point B in the area, as you may have to reaccess the same areas and go in different paths to find them.
Not only can your chainstaff help you swing from place to place, but you can also have it extend areas for you to get to, or even have it help block enemy fire or use it as a javelin to hit enemies, which does come in handy at times.
Let’s talk about the graphics and sound. For the graphics, each stage has this beautiful art style with colors that pop when they need to, especially when you see your blood seeping out of you as an enemy is attacking you or from the enemies that you are tearing up. From the different creatures and how they move and look, to the colorful bosses that just come alive at the right times, which sometimes would catch me off guard as I was really enjoying everything I was looking at.
With the sound, from the music before you even get into the action all the way through the different cut scenes, to every bullet that seems to be bouncing off the enemies and onto the ground, to even hearing the ChainStaff being used as a grapple hook, every sound comes alive that added a smile to my face. Even when firing grenades or rockets, the sounds sounded as they should and as you would expect, and then some.
There are a few things that I would love to see added. For one, the ability to use widescreen monitors’ real estate. Yes, you can select full screen; however, depending on the size of your monitor, you may have black bars on the side. Is it enough to distract you from enjoying the action? No. But it would be nice to see support for widescreen monitors to their fullest use here. Second, an option for you to have to find everything you need before facing the bosses instead of having to go back and replay at times. Yes, it allows you to explore, but it would be nice to see an option implemented in case you have some of those younger players who may get more frustrated, or for those who are enjoying the ride but not realizing that they may have to go back and repeat part of an area that they played. And finally, a ChainStaff sequel or prequel.
Since the game can be played using your keyboard or a controller, I also wanted to see how it would run on a portable device. I installed the game on the Legion Go S, and I have to say, not only did the game run fantastically, but it played as fantastically as well with no issues.
Since the game can be played using your keyboard or a controller, I also wanted to see how it would run on a portable device. I installed the game on the Legion Go S, and I have to say, not only did the game run fantastically, it played as fantastically as well with no issues.
ChainStaff provides a fun time with the action and music that you come to expect from an action 2D Platformer and brings the combat to this welcome entry into the side shooter genre. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that is a positive here. It provides something for all players to enjoy. ChainStaff teaches us that real strength comes from knowing yourself – your boundaries, what you’re capable of, and having the guts to go beyond them. It encourages us to look at hard things with interest instead of worry, and to see problems as chances to change and get better, not as things that stop us. Life often tests us in ways we don’t expect, but those tests reveal who we are and who we can become. When we embrace those moments, we grow wiser, more grounded, and more confident in our own path. And isn’t that the real victory — becoming the version of ourselves we always hoped we could be?
ChainStaff is out now for PC via Steam and is also available for the Nintendo Switch via the Nintendo eShop, for PS4 & PS5 on the PlayStation Store, and for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S on the Microsoft Store. A review code was provided.
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In case you missed the trailers, please enjoy. Until next time, I need to discover the other endings of ChainStaff — and until the Rift opens again, know that you are appreciated.
