Situation Normal is a 2.5D action platformer from ia97lies and MiceMarc, a two-person team. The game puts the difficulty dial in the player’s hands. Move carefully and the trouble builds in stages, while a rush turns the whole facility against you at once. The game combines intense combat, platforming, a healthy dose of destruction, and a bit of dark humour.
About Situation Normal
The brief is blunt. Get in, destroy the boss, and get the hell out. Levels run through factory halls, laboratories and a power plant, so the hazards change as you descend. Armed guards hold the corridors, while the scenery itself causes plenty of damage once it starts to collapse.
Movement and shooting work as one system. A shot fired backwards doubles as a dash, and weapons swap instantly, which preserves momentum in a fight. Special ammo handles the bigger obstacles, although a well-timed collapse often achieves the same result. Death costs very little here, because respawns are instant and you can retry a room straight away.
The developers call the design old school, and the feature list supports that. Levels are linear and handcrafted. There are no skill trees, and no long cutscenes. Speed is the only real difficulty setting, so the pace you choose decides how much chaos arrives at once. Readers who enjoyed ChainStaff, another fast and chaotic platformer, will recognise the appeal.
Key Features
- Linear, handcrafted levels, from factory halls to a power plant
- A backwards-firing dash and instant weapon swaps
- Special ammo for the heavier obstacles
- Destructible structures that can crush enemies
- Instant respawns, with no progression systems to manage
- A dry sense of humour alongside the destruction
The Steam page gives a 2027 release window for Windows and SteamOS, with English, German and Simplified Chinese language support. In the meantime, a free PC demo is available on the store page, and wishlists are open.
