The Brilliant "High Concept, Low Fidelity" of Indie ImSim Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum

After playing through about 10 minutes of the free demo for Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum, I knew this game would easily be worth its asking price. By the time I had completed the third story mission, I was vigorously nodding along in agreement with the 100% positive Steam review score.

Deadeye Deepfake Simulacrum is a 2D top down immersive sim of sorts, set in an always rainy cyberpunk future. With a perfectly tuned low-fi aesthetic, DDS is a poster child for maximalist systems design with minimalist graphical sensibilities. As the store page says, "Deep gameplay, deep writing, ALL style, NO substance. High concept, low fidelity."

Despite its apparent simple graphical style, all design in DDS is clearly very intentional. Every sound, from the clicks of menu selection to the keypresses on your laptop to the low-fi background tunes, is exquisite. Visually, the game is incredibly readable - such simple shapes still somehow easily convey exactly what they need to. The simplest of filter effects - adjustable between RBGA sliders - bring such vivid life to the screen. I’m not usually one for Scanlines, but damn, if they don’t need to be here, I don’t want to be either.

DDS starts out just as you’ve died. Lucky for you, a “benevolent” corporation has retrieved and reconstructed your body. These things aren’t cheap, however, so a million dollar debt is immediately placed on your account, with 1% interest added every day. In the mega corp’s infinite altruism, they will allow you to take on dangerous contracts - stealing, hacking and killing your way to reducing your debt.

It’s time to pick up your laptop, your melee weapon and your gun, decide who you want to be, and get to work.

While the first two mainline levels hadn’t presented too much of a challenge, the third was causing me all sorts of grief. A concise map poses danger around every corner; the watchful eye of cameras gaze in every direction, multiple turrets guard the entrances to important rooms, nearly a dozen guards keep the entire space locked down. After two or three complete failures to even get close to my target - a shareholder server in the back leftmost corner of the floor that I was required to hack - I needed to think smarter.

As a hacker/infiltrator, brawn and weaponry were not my strong suit. Back in my corporate-assigned bedroom, I scrolled through the list of nearly two dozen skills available to me (out of over 100, available from day dot, depending on what classes you pick) trying to find the three that would give me the edge I needed to make it through.

My first approach centred around teleportation. If I could hack my way through the cameras to the security server, I could jump my way passed this fortress of defences and “spike” my target. Even if I didn’t make it out alive, the mission would still be accomplished (an extra $1,000,000 added to my debt for a new body reconstruction notwithstanding). Hacking around the network, I got caught again and again by the Overlord - the enemy system’s hacking defences - and promptly shot on site by the guards sent to find me tucked away in a hidden corner. Plan A was a bust.

Plan B saw me switch out teleportation for a silencer on my shotgun. I hacked into the system just enough to shut the cameras and turret down in my planned path - managing to not tick off the Overlord in the process - then quietly made my way toward the server room door. I took a deep breath, activated my bullet time effect - a handy ability you always have by default - and took out the guard, somehow managing to not shoot the glass walls surrounding them in the process (the shattering sounds certainly would have sealed my death warrant). Taking a breath, I marched into the server room and… of course. Two guards and a turret. I flailed around, trying to stop the inevitable - but with my slow-mo spent and my ammo depleted, I was gunned down once more. Another million on the debt. Fantastic.

But wait. A turret, you say? Turrets, like everything else, are not only hackable - they are connected to a network of all other turrets, managed from their own central server. Yes… this could work. Time for Plan C.

Back at base, I swap my load out for two more skills. First, we’ll need Spoof, a skill that, for a 20 second window, will allow me to hack new devices undetected by the Overlord. Second, Data Scraper, a skill that gives me extra Data - a currency of sorts needed to pull off hacks - to allow me to not need to waste precious hacking time doing further recon. Once more, I headed out.

I plan my attack.

Step 1: hack the cameras to be able to see the outer turret. 

Step 2: jump through the outer turret, to the turret server, to the internal turret.

Step 3: hop to the shareholder server, spike it, and leave without ever alerting the guards.

I have enough “Ego” to use my Spoof skill twice, and I think I can pull off steps 1 and 2 in their 20 second timeframes, but I’m nervous. See, to hack a system, you must physically type in commands to your laptop - e.g. “hop camera_1” to jump to that device, then “snap” to see all devices around it (gaining more invaluable intel/Data to continue the hacking chain). I prep my laptop, then activate my first Spoof.

It’s a frenzy of typing. One eye on the countdown timer, I type all the commands I need one after the other. Step 1 goes off without a hitch - the Overlord is unaware of my presence. A breath. Ok: step 2.

I fumble my commands. The timer runs out just as I hit the turret server. I toss up pulling out and starting again - at least I won’t get hit with another mil penalty if I leave now - but, I’ve come so far.

Screw it.

I hop to the internal turret. Overlord sees me, but does nothing for now - except let me know it is watching. I snap to the turret’s point of view, scanning for the server - wait. I can’t see it. Damn it - the server’s around a slight corner of the room. 

I hack one of the guards directly. Everyone in this world is some form of cyborg - opening them up as potential pawns in my scheme. I can control them, if I want to - but I see the shareholder server from their line of sight, so there is no need. 

I hop to it, my heart pumping. Overlord pings me. It rotates my entire screen 45 degrees to the right - a final warning, but one I can manage. I spike the server. I snap the camera back to my person. 

I’ve done it. 

“Return to the extraction point”.

I walk out the door and leave - the cameras, turrets and guards none the wiser. I feel like the coolest and smartest person in the world.

I make it back to my apartment in one piece. My reward has been deposited into my account: $20,000. Meanwhile, two days have passed - the interest on my debt has increased: an extra $36,000.

I sigh, then sit down and check my emails. Instructions for my next mission are already waiting. I glance at my $18.5-million-in-debt bank account, before heading out the door to do it all again.