Robotic Battle Buddies
HIGH Appealing art.
LOW The lifestyle elements feel half-baked.
WTF One weapon is an… electric guitar?
A world was on the brink of destruction, with climate change, pollution, and war the prime suspects for this horrid situation. A small group of robots saved the planet and led it into a utopia, but after the leader of the group becomes a tyrant, he goes to war with his former disciples.
Lynked: Banner of the Spark takes place only a few years after this conflict starts.
After a relatively grim dark opening, Lynked moves into a tonally lighthearted setting. Robots have taken over the world, sure, but the player’s human character meets a friendly bot known as Buddy who helps them escape their prison cell and abscond to a haven for themselves and their future robot friends.
Narratively, it doesn’t have much to say past this opening. The story is about the player character and their buddy robot as they take down the former members of the now-evil Banner of the Spark.
As for the mechanics, Lynked: Banner of the Spark has two gameplay sections – the campaign is split between a life sim and roguelite action.
The life sim gameplay is akin to many other ‘cozy’ titles like Animal Crossing or Terraria. The player is given a large, open sandbox to craft things, set up shops, and mine resources. As the player progresses, they’ll unlock more shopkeepers, villagers, building materials and tools. The overworld is fittingly barren at first, giving players several locales around the map to use for their construction projects. Unfortunately, these lifestyle aspects of Lynked seem slightly half-baked.
While Lynked has elements in common with other ‘cozy’ titles, many of them offer mechanics that ultimately deliver a more rewarding gameplay loop. For example, in Lynked, everything is almost instant. There are no time-based objectives, and no moment where I had to make a choice between two activities such as doing combat or selling my turnips for the best price that week. Instead, Lynked lets the player do everything at their own pace, in their own way without any stress or problem. While this might work for some, it struck me as not being brave enough to offer any friction or to make me be patient. In my view, I say let lifestyle aspects reflect real life.
The action gameplay is divided into missions that take the form of level-based dungeons that require the player to teleport in and fight bad-bots in small rooms. These realtime, third-person battles are usually quick, first offering minor enemies that lead into more combat encounters that culminate in a boss encounter or rescuing a new robot friend.
The missions are, like the lifestyle gameplay, a bit underdone.
The gameplay in Lynked is attempting to evoke high-octane action, swift movement, and large amounts of weapons to use on each run. Unfortunately, while there are many different weapons to choose from, most of them — such as the great hammer or the electric guitar –aren’t interesting or practical for single players. Instead, they come across as being designed for combo-ing them with friends that can join in on missions via online co-op.
Co-op functions were not available for testing during the review period, however the game supports three-player co-op during the campaign. It is very similar to the co-op functionality of games like Monster Hunter.
All of these issues are on top of middling production values — a soundtrack that doesn’t have any infectious tunes, nor graphics that are anything above average. There are also performance issues even on low settings, with animation stuttering and freezing at or in-between load times.
Lynked: Banner of the Spark feels like a game that wants to combine several elements into one dynamic package, but the attempts at high-speed action trip themselves up before they can even get started, and the lifestyle sim sections are sleep inducing.
Rating: 6 out of 10
— Jahwon Corbett
Buy Lynked: Banner of the Spark –PC – XB – PS
Disclosures: This game is developed by Fuzzy Bot and published by Dreamhaven. It is currently available on XBX/S,PS5, and PC This copy of the game was obtained via Publisher and reviewed on PC. Approximately 20 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. 0 hours of play were spent in multiplayer modes
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E10+ for Fantasy Violence, Users Interact and Language. This is an action game in which players assume the role of a human survivor battling evil robots. From a ¾-overhead perspective, players construct buildings, harvest materials, interact with characters, and battle robot in melee-style combat. Players use swords, blasters, spears, and robot allies to attack enemies. Combat is highlighted by impact sounds, colorful light effects, and small explosions. The word “bastards” appears in the game.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game has no voice acting, only subtitles. There are no significant audio cues needed for play. This game is fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls. Lynked Banner of the Spark features customizable controller mapping. Similar to other action games of its type, the left stick is used to move around the world, while the right stick is mostly used for small camera movements. Each button has an assigned action, such as the face buttons being used for attacking, dodge rolling, or using the in-game grappling hook. Shoulder buttons are used to swap between menu items, meanwhile the start and select buttons allow for engaging for an in-game menu and out-of-game menu.
- Security Camera Installation – indoor/outdoor IP CCTV systems & video analytics
- Access Control Installation – key card, fob, biometric & cloud‑based door entry
- Business Security Systems – integrated alarms, surveillance & access control
- Structured Cabling Services – voice, data & fiber infrastructure for new or existing builds
- Video Monitoring Services – 24/7 remote surveillance and analytics monitoring
Author: 360 Technology Group
About the Author
