I have a special reason for this article in particular. When I first heard about MHG, my initial exposure to Brad was watching him play an early access build on Embr on PC. Back then, he had a pretty long beard and had just started having Edith on stream. I never would have expected my relationship with him to grow as much as it has in the past eighteen months, or that I would be writing as much as I am now. So I specifically wanted to write about the new version of Embr as a way to look back on my time with MHG.
Embr is a physics based, cooperative game in which you play as a gig worker, taking jobs through an app. While you can play the game solo, it is more fun playing with up to three others in online coop. You start by taking firefighting jobs, but eventually can do other types of jobs as well. As you progress through the game, you also experience the story of a rival company trying to take over.
The gameplay is similar between job types, but just enough is changed to give a different experience. The basic firefighting mechanics involve breaking open doors with an axe, putting out fires with a handheld water hose, carrying clients to safety, and finding stacks of cash hidden in the level. As you progress, more hazards are presented. These include gas clouds, grease fires, collapsing floors, and other falling hazards. The other game types unlocked later include variations on the basic resume mission, like doing it with low damage to the structure or saving items instead of people, as well as new modes that task you with destroying the structure or delivering food to clients. You will also unlock a Series of special missions called gigs, like cleaning up gas leaks.
Between missions, you can and should spend your earned currency to purchase and upgrade your equipment. The currencies you get are basic cash, coins, and gems. Most items require cash, while some require additional currency, and the rarest items require all three. You can purchase and upgrade equipment, which is usually handheld items to help deal with a hazard, and vehicles, which each have a storage capacity and can carry a water tank or med pack. You can also buy clothing that provide various bonuses to your character. There are also special daily and weekly quests to earn more of the special currencies.
There is a story that you experience through special missions. Most of these are timed escape missions tasking you with using all your skills to escape the level before time runs out. At the end of each district, you have a boss fight. These are skewed in the favor of the enemy, but overall pretty short encounters. The story follows a rival company and its efforts to take over business from the company you work for. It’s not a huge part of the game, but there if you want to follow it.
The controls are relatively simple at first, but requires getting used to as you get more equipment and their alternate functions. Accessibility wise, the game has a bright color pallette, making hazards easy to spot. You are given a device that let’s you see icons for clients, and other objects if upgraded. This also helps see things you may have missed. You can also adjust the difficulty to quite a degree, to find the best setting for you and your ability.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time with the game. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun coop game, or something similar to other physics based games like Totally Reliable Delivery Service or Human Fall Flat. I do wish that the clothing abilities were explained somewhere in game, but that is a minor inconvenience to search online. Embr is available now on several platforms.
I was given an Xbox code for Embr Console Edition by a PR company with the expectation for coverage of some kind. I played the game on a Series X for about 12 hours. I am mostly blind, so some things I have trouble with may not affect your experience with the game.
