Pathogenic Review — Biological Warfare

Are you a fan of the horrifying, globally-damning consequences of lab-grown super diseases as portrayed in Plague Inc.? Did you play the cell stage of Spore and think “this could use more bullet hell” mechanics? Then Pathogenic might be the game for you.

This twin-stick bullet hell roguelite has you playing as a pathogenic monster, be it a bacterium, a fungal spore, a nanobot, etc., accidentally let loose into one careless scientist’s body. Armed with the ability to rapidly evolve your arsenal with weapons that redefine “biological warfare,” you’ll slither, slash, and shoot your way through red blood cells and other microorganisms in your grim quest to infect the brain.

Pathogenic isn’t a hyper-realistic simulation of how a foreign bacterium takes over an unwilling host’s body. Instead, it’s a heavily stylized bullet hell shooter with roguelite elements. Mechanically speaking, the game is solid, with fast and responsive shooting and fun enemy types. The game can go very fast, with levels cleared in a moment or lost just as quickly, depending on what you build and how you play, but it never feels overwhelming. One particularly interesting choice is the fact that stamina is used both for dodging and as your reload or magazine size mechanic, meaning choosing between quickly getting out of the way of a charging enemy or projectile or shooting back is a split-second strategic decision, one you don’t have to make in many other games in this genre.

Though the mechanics are solid, it is really in the unique theming that the game shines. Upgrades are portrayed as evolutions that you physically mount on your virus body to gain their effects. Physically mounting your gross biological weapons on your frame presents another unique challenge, as the orientation of your guns and doodads can drastically change how the game is played.

Body horror is, as described by the Wikipedia entry, “a subgenre of horror fiction that intentionally showcases grotesque or psychologically disturbing violations of the human body or of another creature,” or one that “focuses on the limits and transformative capabilities of the human body.” By those definitions, Pathogenic might be described as body horror, but I like to think of it more as… the horrors of the body.

See, Pathogenic trades a realistic portrayal of the human body for one that parodies the actual science to the point that epidemiologists might get a laugh out of it. I, on the other hand, found myself pleasantly disturbed by a lot of what the game had to offer, especially in its visuals.

Level and enemy design are something uniquely, horribly excellent in Pathogenic. The microorganisms you face in your quest to the top are grotesque imitations of real microscopic yuckies that could very well exist in your own body. Take the tapeworm boss in the intestines level, which, upon my first approach, literally made my skin crawl.

There’s an ingeniously disgusting natural quality to the way the game designs its levels, too, using color and shape language to make something that conveys itself as real to the human mind without looking anything like what those areas actually look like. I need only reference the intestine level, once again, for you to understand: behold its discomforting yellow-green-brown color palette, with disgusting bits of purple and pink added about. Observe the way the intestinal walls are made of writhing, worm-like textures and the way protruding growths reach out to grab your bacterium. Pathogenic is a genius work of visual horror, and it isn’t even a horror game.

As far as the roguelike elements go, the game is rather light on the traditional formula, accurately bearing the title roguelite as opposed to a full “like.” Levels are procedurally designed, for the most part, but the game doesn’t strictly adhere to that rule, with the intestine level being unique in that it totally does away with the “room-to-room” formula and allows you to swim directly to the final boss if you please. Upgrades and abilities are earned in certain rooms and as a reward for leveling up across the experience, with most rewards coming from the latter. However, permanent upgrades are rather light, with the limited options available earned through achievements rather than grinding for currency.

The game might not have as much replayability as others in the roguelike genre, but what there is is still plentiful and satisfying, as you unlock each different type of pathogen and their small selection of different starting options. Again, every unlock is achievement-based, so you’re rewarded for how you play instead of being incentivized to grind the game away.

On top of all of this, it’s really hard to argue with the game’s incredibly generous price. For just ten dollars, eight on sale, you can get a remarkably fun, engaging, and relatively lengthy bit of enjoyment out of Pathogenic, something not every ten-dollar indie game can promise you.

Pathogenic made me want to go to the doctor, which is a glowing recommendation; you just have to trust me. Its solid twin-stick shooter mechanics are accompanied by an incredibly creative, vividly colorful, and squirm-inducing setting that made me itch under my skin. The game deserves far more attention than it currently receives, and I hope this review does its part to ensure it gets it. If you do play the game, be sure to give it a positive review on Steam and recommend it to any friends you want to have a great time… or that you simply want to gross out.

Try Hard Guides was provided with a Steam code for this PC review of Pathogenic. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! Pathogenic is available on Steam.