The game of Lemnis Gate is a 4-player tactical shooter. The best way to describe it is to compare it to a cross between Overwatch and Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Gameplay is fast-paced and exciting as you connect with your team to complete objectives.
The third major release of Lemnis Gate, entitled “Lemnis Gate Tactical”, is now live. For a small team of devs, the development process has taken a long time – as you can imagine, we have to do everything from the highest levels of game design to coding various aspects of the game. In this article, we’d like to share our insight and opinions on the Tactical release.
Lemnis Gate is an ambitious project that mixes various elements into a soup of game mechanics that looks terrible on paper. However, when we got a chance to play the game ourselves, we were amazed at how well it went. The game combines the adrenaline rush of intense first-person shooters with the tactical skill required in any chess game, thanks to the use of a time loop that makes the game almost impossible to succeed and incredibly satisfying to win. This is how it works.Heroes and time loops
Pictureprovided by Ratloop Games 
Each game consists of a number of rounds, and at the beginning of each round you have to choose which hero you want to play. When you play, you program your actions for a specific 25 second time cycle. When the timer expires, the cycle is set. Then it’s the other team’s turn to fight your actions or plan their own. You can only use a hero once, and since each hero has unique skills and weapons, you have to plan how and when to use them in a match. For example, a hero can run faster than others and has a special ability to increase his speed. It’s great for scoring and collecting points, or for hitting your target and doing damage before your opponent can stop you. Another hero has the ability to place turrets. This means that the player can place defenses to undo the opponent’s efforts, unless someone kills him in the next turn. Players only have a certain number of turns to play, so you can’t use all the heroes in every match. Once the last round is over, the time loop is replayed with each character placed during the game. Depending on the actions of the players during these rounds, they may win or lose based solely on the actions of another player in another round.
Method of play
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The best way to explain how Lemnis Gate works is by looking at the game modes. There are two in total, and each can be played with a combination of bots and real players. Every match is like an epic battle. There are two main tasks in the different game modes: Collect points and give them to the target or destroy it.
1v1
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This is the simplest mode. Players take turns choosing a hero and performing his actions. You can build defences, score points or destroy the enemy base. Players have 25 seconds and all actions count. Even if you score a point and only have five seconds left, it’s worth shooting in the direction of the enemy base in case those shots count towards your victory later. After the first player plans an action, the second player does the same. You can attack an enemy base, but you can also kill an enemy player. This makes their actions redundant and allows the other player to do whatever they want unhindered. When their turn is over, it goes back to the first player. If a cycle is in progress and you’re not the active player, you control a drone that allows you to monitor the battlefield and track every move in previous and current cycles. This goes on for about five times, then the time loop closes. In our experience, the action of the last round often decided the team’s victory or defeat, but if you were strategic enough from the start, no amount of cheese can prevent you from winning in the end.
2v2
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This game mode is much faster than 1v1. Players take turns performing actions in their time cycles, but moves also alternate between teams. First the player of team A takes his turn, then the player of team B, then team A again and finally team B. When all players have completed their actions, the round is over and you can proceed to the next round. We found this game mode much more confusing, but also the better of the two. The 1-on-1 can seem very one-sided when one player is clearly better than the other. However, in 2v2 mode, two players can develop a strategy against the other team. We split up to defend and attack at the same time. By looking at both sides of the map, we could predict which heroes were needed in certain areas and where to place defenses to fend off actions our opponent had sealed the previous turn. The only drawback is that this game mode takes much longer. But as you watch the time loop unfold at the end, the sheer madness on screen is fun, especially if you emerge victorious. In our test of the game we were almost ahead of the developers, but they said it was one of the most entertaining games they had played so far.
Looks good, hard to play
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There is no doubt that this game is very beautiful. Textures and characters are crisp and sharp, and everything feels like it was initially designed for the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Even in 2v2, the game is still beautiful, no matter how intense the match. But it’s hard to understand at first. It wasn’t until the end of our two-hour play session that we felt like we finally understood the controls. The vast differences between each hero and the limited time you have to play means that the learning curve for each is very steep. After all, you can’t figure out how characters play in Overwatch in less than half a minute. To put it bluntly: Players have unlimited time to choose their hero, which means you’ll know exactly who you’re facing each round. Once the tour starts, you won’t have enough time. Some of the heroes’ skills were clearly meant to help earlier versions of themselves or a teammate, which is worse. There is a shield that can be used on the ground or directly on the hero. Despite our best efforts, we could not link him to the heroes, but inadvertently gave cover to the enemy. On the one hand, we have played a first version, and such problems may be fixed in the final version. On the other hand, there’s a lot in the game, and it doesn’t leave you much room to explore everything. We can definitely see how this could discourage new players, especially if they buy the game through Xbox Game Pass and don’t have the financial investment to entice them to continue and try to have more fun with the game.
More than meets the eye
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Lemnis Gate is a game you have to play yourself to judge it. It’s incredibly difficult to talk about, but underneath all the jargon is a very fascinating game. The pace is similar to that of a board game, but the battles and characters are varied enough that no two games are the same. It’s easy to imagine players developing profitable strategies at first, only to see them crumble under the onslaught of new strategies designed specifically to combat them. The game comes out on the 3rd. August for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S and will be available on PC and Xbox consoles via Xbox Game Pass on day one. This availability will almost certainly lead to many players filling the servers with potential opponents. From what we’ve seen, it’s clear to us that Lemnis Gate will appeal to those who like something different, a combination of tactical thinking and fast-paced shooting.
