Capcom have been on a generational run in recent years with their superb single player titles leading the way alongside a willingness to experiment with new ideas. Helped out in part by the excellent performance and optimisation of the RE Engine, fans of action games in particular have been in good hands. While this was most recently shown in the brilliant Resident Evil: Requiem, Pragmata is a brand new IP and shows that Capcom have plenty to offer outside of their more famous franchises.
The first thing that hits you with Pragmata is how gorgeous the game is. There’s two graphical presets on base PS5, to prioritise frame rate stability or resolution, but both upscale nicely to 4K and target a solid 60fps, even in the most action-packed sequences of the game’s 10-12 hours runtime. Between epic fights and solid platforming puzzles there are moments of beautiful contemplation that really make the most of the game’s lunar setting and the oddities found within the AI controlled moon base. Much as with Requiem, this is a game that packs a lot in to a focused duration and is ripe for replaying, especially with New Game Plus already being included – something that’s still missing for Requiem. There were plenty moments when I just stood and took in the view, which the game clearly wants you to do as it frames the scenery with the camera and uses character voicework to draw your attention.
The story of Pragmata is a solid piece of sci-fi, with a base on the Moon being the source of new developments in 3D printing, thanks to a material known as Lunafilament which promise to revolutionise construction. The company behind this research, however, is shrouded in secrecy and possible scandal – their use of the Moon being a way to escape scrutiny from governments and authorities. You play as Hugh Williams, part of a team of astronauts sent out to investigate when the lunar base stops responding to transmissions. After a tension-building intro where you first step foot in the base, things quickly descend into disaster and Hugh is saved from this by an android made to look like a young girl.
The interplay between Hugh and Diana (as the android is nicknamed by Hugh) contains genuine warmth and companionship. Both characters are combating their own insecurities and sense of loneliness, and the growth seen in each throughout the game elevate it from the ‘sad dad’ theme that has become so prevalent in AAA games in recent years. There is obviously an element of this, given the status of the protagonists, but it felt like a novel spin on the idea and there’s a joy to the way that Diana experiences and learns about Earth, the Moon and various elements of human life. When I first saw footage of the game I was a little worried that it would feel like an extended escort mission, but this is never the case and even slow walk-and-talk segments are kept to a minimum.
The silence from the lunar base turns out to be because of a rogue AI named IDUS, which (as becomes abundantly clear from the game’s opening) has taken a disliking to human presence on the Moon. This plot has interesting parallels with contemporary concerns about the risks of handing over control to software systems and also clear echoes of both Terminator and 2001: A Space Odyssey. In practice, though, the setup is the basis for some of the most thrilling combat mechanics I’ve enjoyed in a long while – mechanics that feel like a fusion of underrated classic Vanquish and modern Souls-likes, albeit with a ranged combat twist and the extra complexity of Diana’s hacking ability.
It’s this hacking ability that elevates the combat into a whole new dimension. You start off with a simple pistol that does practically no damage to the robots roaming the lunar base, but once Diana hacks into their software they open up their hardened shells and become much more susceptible to attacks. This hacking is carried out dynamically in a way that initially feels odd, but soon becomes second nature. When you aim at an enemy or interactive object a separate window opens up that you navigate using the face buttons on the gamepad, while still being able to move Hugh around using the left stick and dodge attacks using the shoulder buttons. Initially this window is a basic grid where you navigate from start point to hack delivery, passing through damage nodes to increase the impact, but as the game develops the range of different nodes available to Diana and their effects allows for a huge amount of strategy and customisation.
Your pistol can be upgraded and later changed for another primary weapon, but there are also a wide range of secondary weapons, support items and defensive tools that can be found and added to your loadout – outside of the main gun’s infinite ammo, everything has limited ammo supply without reloads, so you need to always grab new weapons found in level, though you can set a starting loadout when leaving the Shelter which acts as your safe haven and hub. The amount of options here will allow you to make the combat work to your personal playstyle. You can choose to emphasise gunplay or hacking as your main damage dealer, and also back this up with mods that can be applied to your suit.
At its best the combat feels like a unique combination of third person shooter and Souls-like with perfect dodge timing being essential in tougher fights. Add in the hacking, the need to destroy hacking shields on tougher enemies, the switching of priorities of different targets, and you have a system that continues to thrill and challenge right up to the final boss. Regular enemies become pretty routine as you level up which gives you an appropriate level of power fantasy, but new robots are steadily added in that mix things up and force you to think on your feet. Different combinations of enemies are better dealt with using different items and secondary weapons, so matching the fight to the loadout can make things significantly easier.
