Skin Deep

Really good stealth immersive sim game with a lot of attention to detail that doesn't overstay its welcome. All of Skin Deep's levels (minus the interlude story missions) involve a basic objective set: eliminate or avoid soldiers, get cat keycards, rescue cats, and exfiltrate. Complications are added to levels at a good pace, like tougher pirates, traps, or certain elements of the ship being locked until you find a code to unlock them.

Stealth is definitely the winning strategy most of the time, but if you know what you're doing you can eliminate every pirate on the ship with a combination of items, environmental features, and eventually firearms in the later levels. The balance between stealth and combat is excellent in this game: fighting is reasonable against one enemy but triggering an alert to all the pirates gets chaotic and dangerous, especially when stuff starts exploding and causing chain reactions with airlocks or windows on the ship.

Good sense of humor in both the writing and gameplay and I was engaged enough in the game's story that I enjoyed it until the end. Hilarious use of slapstick when fighting enemies: jumping on stunned pirates backs and banging them into sinks never got old even at the end of the game.

Lots of people have pointed out the primary influences like Deus Ex and Prey but I thought there was a bit of Metal Gear in this game too. Everyday items being used for strange, extremely situational purposes and rooms with a unique gimmick that interacts with your stealth gameplan are very MGS and I was happy to see that.

Recommended if you're looking for a well designed stealth game with about 10 hours of content in the base game (and potentially custom levels via the workshop later).

Great gameplay. Great soundtrack. Great (level) design.

The story is uncomplicated but good. Make sure you read all emails, notes and descriptions.

Blendo Games' unique world, fictional brands and products and the visual style are outstanding.

Do you have a long-festering desire to play a game that's like Die Hard by way of Jazzpunk with a little bit of Forbidden Planet sci-fi aesthetics thrown in there?

...No?

Well, alright, since I've brought it up, do you now want to play a game that's like Die Hard by way of Jazzpunk with a little bit of Forbidden Planet sci-fi aesthetics thrown in there?

Yes? Cool. Check Skin Deep out.

The newest game from veteran of the indie scene Blendo Games (known for Gravity Bone, Quadrilateral Cowboy and for some reason making games on fucking IdTech4 (aka the engine that made Doom 3!!! (the flashlight one!!!!))), this title is a level-by-level arcadey immersive sim. Your goal each mission is simple- hidden around the level are a certain number of trapped cats. Your goal is to get a cat key to each of these trapped cats, free them, get outside the level, call for extraction, and then ex-filtrate yourself. The complications arise when considering everything else. First, gun-toting pirates patrol every part of the ship you're on. Second, as the Die Hard allusion implied, you're completely unarmed (and shoeless) on a densely-packed spaceship. Third, you're playing an immersive sim, so your options for completing goals are fairly vast. You can sneak, platform, explore or fight your way to collecting these keys however you see fit.

Skin Deep's biggest success is how it boils down immersive systems into more easily digestible chunks. Systems interact in various different ways, but it's up to the player to really mess around with how they work. Need to take care of a pirate? Maybe lure him near a flammable gas cloud, and chuck a lighter into it to blow him up. You see, any sparks will ignite the cloud... including the guard's own gunfire, so if you're okay with starting an alert, you can get the guard to blow himself up by taking a shot at you. What limitations exist are often tastefully chosen, like the limited inventory space encouraging you to get the most out of your items. As well, game very smartly uses locks and gates to keep parts of the ship temporarily blocked off until you can find the code or key to unlock them. Some might chafe at not letting the ships be totally free-roam from the jump, but I disagree. Its very compelling to unlock a new method of traversal and use that to subvert the level. On top of this, the basic collection of items are open ended. What about an item that can duplicate any item in the game? What about a grenade that can hack anything, including the aforementioned locked doors? What about a TNT satchel that can be planted on a patrolling guard's back?

One thing I enjoyed is the sophistication of these systems, and how they lead to comedy. For example, take the alert system. If you alert a guard, they'll put the ship on combat phase and guards will patrol more aggressively. Get your hands on a walkie-talkie or get to the bridge, and you can call off the alert. However, if you make noise or cause a ruckus, the guards might call a check-in anyways, and you'll have to ping them back on the walkie-talkie to prevent exposure. Except, if a guard you're fighting doesn't have a walkie-talkie, they can't alert everyone else. As well, when the check-in starts happening, you'll have to call in for each guard you've taken out! This has led to a hilarious moment in which I realised my walkie-talkie didn't have enough charges to fulfil the checkin, so I started running around like a headless chicken looking for new one. I barely found one in time, which made me laugh deviously once I cleared my name.

If the abovementioned story doesn't make it clear, Skin Deep is a funny game. There's a confident weirdness to most of Blendo's works, with the game never pulling a Marvel-esque "isn't this so weird?? LOL???" self-effacing slight. This is a weird game that runs on weird logic, but that logic never doubts itself or sells the world down the river for a cheap laugh. Yes, this is a game where cats pilot space ships. Yes, this is a game where deoderant is ignitable and people fall down with a slide-whistle pratfall. Yes, this is a game where your heart has a giant "AUTO DEFIBRILLATOR" attachment that looks incredibly painful and yet is wholly necessary for survival. I wasn't exactly wowed by the story, but I was consistently charmed by this game's weird, weird world, and that's enough for a memorable experience.

Skin Deep's only major issues come down to mutability. As a level-by-level imsim, it lacks the longer progression of its salty uncles System Shock and Prey. The game could feasibly include one too, as Thief is also level-by-level, and it has a shop after each mission to buy items for the next. I'm also not a fan of each level's endgame event. After rescuing all the cats and signalling for evac, the pirates summon a dropship of their own stuffed with the toughest shock troopers in the game. You can either totally clear the ship of guards, or take the evac key one of the troopers is carrying and make your getaway. On one hand, I like how open this is- despite the ship flooding with guards, you're not forced to take any of them on, and can pickpocket or stun the guards long enough to swipe the key. On the other hand, literally every single mission ends this way, and the game only gives the stronger tools (e.g. firearms) once you're ready to begin the endgame. I get why it does this, to get the player to do something else instead of shooting people to death, but the fact that every mission ends the same way does get tiresome. Maybe one or two more ways to escape the mission could be added?

Overall, Skin Deep is a clean cut, fruity, bright yellow-and-pink dress shirt in a genre of grungy, oil-covered leather jackets. Or something. I'm saying it's a more colourful and experimental immersive sim than it's peers. It messes with the imsim formula in enjoyable ways, while also providing a solid entry point for this kind of game. I could easily see this game pulling a devoted fanbase, and I really think anyone who loves stealth, immersive sims, FPS games, scifi, Die Hard or just like, fun in general should give it a try.

Im really enjoying this game, it reminds me a lot of Prey (2017) in the best way.
But with cats so its automatically better.

Comments pointed out my major gripe is not a gripe and im just an idiot.

This game is fantastic!

TLDR: A fantastic stealth game with many ways to complete a level that has a lot of charm and doesn't take itself too seriously.

EDIT:
So I just beat it and enjoyed it a lot!
I was a bit surprised at the general lack of new mechanics after the first few hours, but the game made up for it by having more complex levels.
The final level was by far the hardest as it was a massive ship that has multiple floors, tons of guards and worst of all.. no map! The sense of relief I felt when I finally found a save point about 10 minutes into the level was insane.

The story also creeps up on you. It's not great or anything, but I enjoyed it and didn't get bored.

I will say that it felt like the game needed one or two more tools / gimmicks / traps.. like you should be able to find a "pirate finger print" that gives you access to their gear or something. It might seem like a strange request for a stealth game, and I'm by no means saying that the core gameplay got old, but I found myself taking out guards with explosive soap more often than I can count, because the late-game enemies can't be grabbed and knocked out.

Speaking of the late-game, learning guard patterns and pick-pocketing their keycards was great fun, but I thought it was weird that you can't rob them while they're stunned.. just some feedback.

With that said, Skin Deep is a hidden gem. I originally picked it up because I saw a tweet about it from the developer who's working on RetroSpace (another game worth checking out). We need more games like this.. I'm looking forward to replaying some missions.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I haven't beaten it yet, but this game really surprised me.. it's a mission based stealth game with multiple ways to tackle your objective of saving 2 to 3 cats before extracting.

But the game slowly gets more complicated by introducing new hazards that put a wrinkle in your plan, but every hazard can also be used as a new tool to win.

The basic premise is you'll be thrown into a level which has a few rooms, patrolling guards and air vents. You can trip a guard with a banana, grab them and try to slam them into objects before they shake you off. Knocking them out isn't enough though, as you'll have to grab their head (taking a precious inventory slot) and need to dispose of it in space, either by dropping it into a trash can, or opening the airlock to throw it out yourself.

Because yes, each level is technically a small space ship, which you can fully explore from the outside, often finding alternate routes to rooms inside. Where the previously mentioned hazards come in is an airlock might be password sealed, so you'll have to follow notes found in the environment to track down where the password is.. these can be very well hidden and reward the player for observing.

Another wrinkle that comes later in the game is when you're meant to extract from the mission, a pirate boarding party will raid the ship, requiring you to steal a key to escape with their ship, or kill them all (which is easier said than done if you're low on supplies).. but you'll also be introduced to guns and explosives, so it all manages to balance itself out.

I noticed in the hub area that you can't replay missions until you beat it, which is a great reward for this kind of game, because I really can't wait to revisit some levels.

My complaints are quite limited and I would recommend this one, but for all the style this game has, levels tend to look very similar to one another, and as such it can be tough keeping track of which notes were found on what level. You can always check the notes you've obtained in a level, but I just wanted to mention the only fault with the art design.
It can also get pretty hectic trying to keep track of all the items in the level. I wish there was a way to ping them, or it would automatically mark them if you scanned them or got close enough.
I don't want to see them through the whole level or anything, it's just sometimes I'll leave an item and the next minute I completely lost track of where I put it.. but that might be a skill issue since I struggle with how many things you have to micro manage in this game.
Another VERY small complaint is when you're in the hub reading emails, the mouse sensitivity is really bad and different than anywhere else in the game.

I'll update my review once I've beaten the game if there's anything else worth mentioning, good or bad, but if I don't change my review, it means my thoughts didn't change. At the moment I can easily recommend Skin Deep. You know it's a good game when you find yourself doing "just one more mission" when you're supposed to go to bed..

Actually a genuinely fun immersive sim, way better than i thought it would be, looking forward to playing more of it.

Incredible game, I'll update this review once I'm done with it, but I'm so floored I just wanted to leave a positive review ASAP. If you like this kind of game (Prey, Deus Ex, Dishonored, Thief), then you'll love this one.

Blendo Games doesn't miss so I had high hopes the game is good, but I didn't know it's absolutely amazing until I opened a post box with the 0451 key.

This game is such a BANG.

very well made

great game design, interesting game mechanics

and the impressive art style and presentation!

A fantastic immersive sim with the usual Blendo Games' unique charm.

I like how every item in the game comes with a sticker attached on them explaining what they could be use for, and have the player figure how how to combine them with the environment/other items to deal with the enemies, each level also comes with its own gimmick to help keep the game play interesting.

While the story of the game is very simple, the world and character building via notes you find in the levels and email exchanges between them adds a lot more flavour to it. I also think the game is just about the right length and avoids becoming stale by the time you reaches the end.

If you're a fan of immersive sim games or have enjoyed previous titles by Blendo Games, I'm confident you'll love this one!

Immiest-sim (seriously, there's multiple vents in every single room) with a focus on absurd, slapstick environmental interactions and on-site procurement. As an example, the most cost-effective way I've found to eliminate an enemy is to lure him into a flammable cloud of hand sanitizer (because every single hygiene product in Nuevos Aires is for some reason extremely flammable) and then light it with the sparks of a malfunctioning walkie-talkie, which basically every enemy carries. Indeed, the world of Skin Deep eschews realism in favor of plain old fun; every single usable item has a diegetic product label on it plainly stating its use
case in terms of game mechanics, whether that be a bag of chips branded with "WARNING: IMPOSSIBLE TO CONSUME QUIETLY" or an electrical conduit with a notice that it "sparks when BASHED against wall".

Simplistic yet dense level design makes the game very approachable to see-monkey-kill-monkey FPS brainlets like myself; and exploration is abundantly rewarded the further you get into the game: once you get to level 3 and beyond each level requires up to four codes to unlock exits/trash chutes/windows/vents- these codes are hinted at through all kinds of notes and environmental puzzling, whether that be a misplaced forget-me-not or a "password notice" telling which specific named enemy on the level might have the code.

Visually, the game exudes the classic Blendo style that long-time fans of Mr. Chung have come to appreciate; the game is awash in retrofuturist pastels, charmingly clunky gadgets and tools, noisy terminal screens, and fake product specifications on every surface and asset. The game took forever to come out but thankfully it does not disappoint in the slightest. Give it a go.

EDIT: Completed the campaign and it confirmed my long-standing belief that every time Blendo releases a new game it's just a longer and more elaborate sequel to Gravity Bone

Have you ever taken out a space pirate by throwing a book through the library's Book Detector, causing it to administer a high-voltage electrical shock, following up by jumping on his back and ramming him into a nearby light fixture? Have you ever found a Dungeon Meowster's secret stash of TNT, snuck up behind a pirate, planted it, and held your breath while peering around the corner to see if he stands there for long enough to get caught in the blast radius? Have you ever duplicated an armed wire grenade twice, only to look back at the door and realize that the tripwires are between you and your exit route?

I've been following this game since the early devlogs started, and while they weren't able to do everything they wanted to do, what they shipped is more than enough. If you played Quadrilateral Cowboy and felt it lacked action, this has the action you crave. If you played Thirty Flights of Loving or Gravity Bone--one, good taste, and two, you'll see that Blendo Games sense of cinematography shine through here, too. If you haven't touched a Blendo Games title before, you should play this, and be prepared for it to get absolutely silly.

Deus ex meets no one lives forever 😁
Great and funny stealthy im-sim.
For this price it's a steal

i love the levels-based im-sim formula, it frees me to try things and screw stuff up without worrying about ruining something greater than a 20-30 minute run. super polished, super funny, and packed to the brim with that sweet blendo games sauce. 10/10

Do you like cats, Die Hard, immersive sims, and a great sense of humour? I've only played a little bit past the title drop, but even if it stopped here, I would have considered this worth the price of admission. I can't wait to play more.

This is an extremely quirky immersive sim with bite-sized levels and a well defined gameplay loop that cuts out the kind of fluff you often come across in the genre. And, to be honest, if someone had told me way back in the mid 2000s that someone would be taking the Doom 3 engine and making a game with it 20 years later that calls back to NOLF combined with Deus Ex except all you do is save cats, I would've called you a nutcase... but here we are!

To get the most out of the visuals with the engine, I highly recommend taking the effort to get Reshade and Special K to play well together for this game and having Reshade apply an SMAA layer to get rid of the jaggies and set up HDR with Special K to get the engine to really sing. Doom 3 engine games always look great with Special K pushing them out into an HDR color space. This is easier to accomplish with recent updates to Special K, and you can find walkthroughs from them on how to get them working together for a game like this. When installing Reshade to the game, also be aware that this is an OpenGL game, so be sure to select that option for the install.

If you don't have HDR or only want to go through the effort of getting one to work, definitely at least get Reshade to apply the SMAA, and perhaps play around with debanding as well, as color banding can be an issue with some of the lighting (this is typical of the engine).

I'm very much looking forward to playing through the rest of this game, but I already know I love it. What a great treat, I had no idea this game even existed until I saw it as a new release and was immediately intrigued by a vibe that recalled the NOLF space levels, and I couldn't be happier that it caught my attention.

level to level immersive sim where you save cats from space pirates.

and its a doom 3 engine game made in the modern day.
and uses 5GBs of storage!

if that all sounds interesting to you, trust me you'll love it.

My most anticipated game of 2025! If you LOVE Immersive sims like Deus-Ex (the good one) and wacky absurdist humor, this game is right up your alley!

MEOW!

character is barefoot, no barefeet sound. 0/10 game

on a serious note really great game, love how everything in the environment interacts with each other and how things can get so silly.

explode laundry room with soap, he sleeps and falls I jump down and proceed to slip and fall 3 times trying to get to him. I panic, throw pepperbox too close we sneeze at each other

after eight years in development, i wasn't sure if it could live up to the anticipation

it exceeds it

This is essentially a spiritual homage to System Shock and the OG Deus Ex. If you like ImSims, 80s space westerns, cat-based puns, and REALLY good voice acting (hello, ProZD!), then you'll love this.

Edit: I will give ONE point of feedback: not having a 'save point' in Nina's cabin means restarting any cutscenes or email chains that happen in-between the missions if you have to quit out. I realize the game is complex but not having a save point in the 'this is the space between missions to relax' area is a bonkers oversight.