Pragmata (PS5) review: innovative AA action with AAA sci-fi sheen shoots for the Moon and scores

It's a common misconception that Capcom's in-house RE Engine is named after its best-selling Resident Evil series when it's actually short for 'Reach for the Moon', which you'll also see reflected in the engine's logo. Pragmata then might be the most appropriate showcase for the most consistently stunning proprietary engine in recent generations given that it's set on the Moon.

Despite being announced as Capcom's first original IPs in almost a decade back at PS5's initial Future of Gaming showcase in 2020 before facing delays and fears it might have been scrapped, its release serendipitously follows the completion of the Atermis II's historic mission to the Moon, which has also been a way to remind us the awe that the sight of outer space can inspire. I certainly got a similar sense in the game's opening as astronaut Hugh Williams and his crew arrive at lunar research station the Cradle to investigate the seeming disappearance of its inhabitants, while a shot of our blue planet looms in the distance. There's a spotless sheen magnified by impressive ray-traced reflections from the seemingly utopian station’s surfaces.

Of course, it doesn't take long for the cracks to appear as disaster strikes, leaving Hugh alone, while the station's rogue AI IDUS dispatches killer bots after you.

A perfect pairing

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Countering this timely plot of AI anxiety is Diana, a state-of-the-art android with the likeness of a six year-old girl. Wearing a puffy jacket with a blue that brings to mind Capcom's own branding and 'Blue Bomber' mascot Mega Man, she's another showcase for RE Engine's hair physics (you might have noticed the company's particular fascination with blonde-haired female characters, such as Resident Evil Requiem's Grace Ashworth).

That she's barefooted and does behave her age rather than adopting the precocious child trope also suggests a certain vulnerability. But here's where Pragmata diverges from the other adult-child dynamics we've seen in other modern gaming blockbusters. Rather than as a character you're escorting or protecting, she's in fact a co-protagonist who you also control as she perches over Hugh's shoulder.

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Where Hugh takes on a third-person shooter familiarity with a suit that evokes another stellar sci-fi action cult classic Vanquish, combat is far from conventional. Due to the impenetrable defenses of IDUS’s bots, when you're aiming your weapon, Diana has the ability to hack their systems and expose their weak spots.

On paper it sounds complicated, as instead of pausing the action for a hacking minigame or a simple button press, you use the face buttons as directional inputs to move a cursor across a tiled grid, all while these bots are coming at you or have you in their charged up crosshairs in real-time.

But in execution, it couldn't feel more intuitive and readable, as the grid appears on the right of the screen when your aim is on an enemy without obscuring your view of what's going on, so you know to use Hugh's jet thrusters to dodge an incoming attack.

Focused but varied

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Once you're eased into this hacking and shooting rhythm, it quickly opens up to more variation in tandem with the variety of bots you come up against, from walkers with energy swords for arms to flying drones, as well as larger-scale bestial boss fights that make for terrific setpieces.

For instance, bots with higher defenses might have a larger hacking grid, with some tiles greyed out and impassable, while moving over a red one will stun Diana and reset the hack, which are always clearly readable when you're having to make split-second decisions. These variations keep the core gameplay engaging throughout the campaign while never getting overwhelming, as you also unlock more and more weapons and nodes.

Nodes are probably the most interesting as passing over them on the hacking grid will trigger bonus effects, such as one that hacks nearby enemies as well as the one you've targeted, while another can recover Hugh's suit integrity (read health). But weapon variety is also important for varying your playstyle, and wisely these include ones that give you the breathing room for more complex hacks, like setting down holograph decoys to distract bots, or a stasis net that keeps them frozen in place.

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With the exception of your primary weapon unit, it's refreshing that each weapon or node has finite uses, but with a high rate of drops from enemies or item boxes, it means you're incentivised not to hoard but make use of whatever you have at any given encounter.

It's telling that even though you can unlock an auto-hack ability later on I just always found it extremely satisfying to complete hacks myself, and Capcom is second-to-none when it comes to giving you the electrifying audiovisual feedback your actions call for, from when you successfully hack a bot to when they're vulnerable to an up-close critical finisher animation.

AA gameplay trumps AAA presentation

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The other big part of Pragmata's science fiction is a resource called Lunafilament that can be used to 3D-print literally anything. It provides the perfect excuse for how each sector of the Cradle you explore isn't necessarily part of a cohesive whole, so one can resemble New York's Times Square while another is teeming with forest.

Each sector is connected via a tram system while you'll regularly find check points in the form of escape hatches that take you back to the Shelter, a safe hub where you can restore health, restock supplies, as well as unlock and upgrade your skills. It's in other words unabashedly videogamey underneath its cinematic sheen.

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That's one way to excuse how Hugh and Diana's partnership is ultimately a little lightweight in the emotional narrative stakes. Considering that the game tries to establish that Hugh doesn't know the first thing about kids and is untrusting of AI, it may jar that he gels all too well with this android resembling a little girl, casually feeding her anecdotal morsels about life on Earth.

If I was to be really nitpicky, Diana's photorealistic detail and believably childlike mannerisms can also get a bit uncanny if you're to scrutinise her limited emotional expressions, especially in the conversations you can have with her in the Shelter (there are however some pretty adorable animations whenever you bring back virtual kid-friendly trinkets from Earth to see how this curious moppet interacts with them).

Even if there are moments intended to tug at the heartstrings, you shouldn't expect a dramatic tour-de-force on par with The Last of Us or God of War.

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But that's what I love about Pragmata. RE Engine can make it look like a cinematic masterpiece, but with its old-school AA approach, what Capcom cares most about is wringing every bit of fun out of the game's ingenious shooting/hacking gameplay.

Even though you can technically breeze through its campaign in 10 hours, there's plenty to keep you coming back, whether that's unlocking new abilities that allow you to reach new areas in earlier sectors, braving the challenging areas that require collecting a red key card to unlock, or testing your skills in a series of short but fun training simulations where even mastering Hugh's floaty jet thrusts will tick off bonus objectives for more rewards.

The spirit of the Capcom Five is well and truly alive.