Pragmata, the quirky science-fiction game that’s back from the dead

7 hours ago 5

When Pragmata was first announced five years ago, it wasn’t clear exactly what Resident Evil publisher Capcom was making. The debut trailer featured eerie, futuristic imagery, an astronaut, and a blond-haired little girl, but there was nothing concrete or clear about its content. And when it missed its 2022 release window and was “paused indefinitely” in 2023, it wasn’t clear if Pragmata would ever come to be.

That all changed on 4 June, when a brand-new trailer was broadcast during a PlayStation showcase. The blond-haired little girl turns out to be a weaponised android, accompanying an astronaut called Hugh (of course) through space-station shootouts. I played about 20 minutes of the game during Summer Game Fest the following weekend. A lengthy, troubled development cycle is usually a bad omen, but my time with it was promising.

Pragmata begins with the aforementioned astronaut, Hugh Williams, unconscious and lying prone amid metallic detritus, his suit is blaring a repeat warning: “integrity compromised”. A child with long, unkept blond hair wearing an oversized blue jacket and nothing else (a bizarre choice, if I’m being honest) runs past Hugh and struggles to tip over a large case nearby. When she finally knocks it on its side, she opens it up to reveal a device that emits lunafilament nanoweave, a material that absorbs and copies any information it is exposed to. She uses it to repair his suit, which in turn heals his wounds, and he’s on his feet (though confused) in no time.

Pragmata trailer

We learn they ,are on a moon-based space station, to which Hugh was dispatched after an earthquake. This facility appears to have an autonomous robotic security system that considers Hugh an intruder, however, which means it’s time to fight. And I was not ready for how much fun fighting is.

The robot adversaries in Pragmata all have powerful shields, which means Hugh’s arsenal of weapons (which you can add to by finding different firearms around the map) is essentially useless. Thankfully, the barefoot little girl, whom we now call Diana, can hack these enemies to make them vulnerable – you’ll just have to do it while they’re attacking you, and she’s riding on your shoulder.

With the face buttons on your controller, you’ll have to navigate through the robot’s mainframe, depicted as several rows and columns of tiles, until you get to a green tile, which will temporarily disarm its shield. You have to do this fast, however, often while dodging their strikes, and failing these hacks and starting over made for some incredibly tense (and fun) combat.

Pragmata’s hacking feels like when you call in a Helldivers 2 stratagem and have to swiftly but purposefully push buttons while under extreme pressure. It turns every firefight into a white-knuckle moment: different robot types require different hacks, and messing up will set you back. In the brief time I spent with Pragmata, there was a pleasing variety of enemies and weapons already.

I was engrossed in combat by the time someone tapped me on the shoulder and told me the demo time was over (right before a big boss fight, boo). Despite five-plus years in development, it feels fresh.