This was another one of those games that I had never heard of, didn't read anything about it before downloading, and it is such a small studio that they didn't even have a preview of the game in the PS Store. So I truly went into this extremely blind.
While I liked the idea behind this game it was a little too basic and also very difficult right from the start. The concept behind it was good and the immediate respawn was something I appreciated since in the hour that I spent playing I'm pretty sure I died over a hundred times. Therein lies the problem that I have with this game.
src
Now I am sure some indie fanbois out there will get upset with me for what I am about to say. I am prepared for this.
The game plays a lot like Grand Theft Auto 1 in that it uses an overhead view. I haven't gotten to a part where the game is at all open-world, I don't think any of it is but the controls are similar. The major problem being that it is very fast paced and death is almost always immediate when it happens.
src
The game is extremely graphic for what it is and the topic matter is something that is so mature, that there is actually a part at the start of the game that asks if you want to "skip the moments of sexual violence." The fact that something like this exists in a game at all is a pretty bold move on their part.
The story is that you play various roles but I only got the the point of playing an actor named Martin Brown who is a star of violent films and a group of fans of the film he is in who decide to copycat the actions seen in the film. While I didn't fully understand the motivations for most of the characters that I encountered, they all seem to be interested in someone named "Jacket" who was the star of the first game that I never played and have never heard of.
The chapters are quite short and you skip through various characters that apparently will all intersect at one point or another. I don't know for sure because I never made it that far.
src
The gameplay is simplistic and relatively the same regardless of the level you are on. Basically you just run through a building of some sort and kill everyone in it. If you don't play your cards right you will be overpowered by having too many enemies to deal with, many of whom are armed with firearms and will one-shot you just like you will one-shot them in the same manner.
This is where the game became too difficult in my mind. Many times the enemies with firearms are not actually on your screen when they fire at you and you are all of a sudden just dead and you didn't even see who shot at you. Perhaps this was built in to encourage you to take a different path but there is no indication that this is something that you should try.
The AI is also extremely retarded. Like a lot of games that require some element of stealth, if you bash someone's skull in and run into the next room, the other guards or occupants don't sound an alarm but simply return to their very predictable path around the room. You can actually bait guards into a room and then run into the ONLY other room accessible from that room and they will not pursue you.
I suppose this is a good thing because the game is difficult enough without ramping the difficulty up even more.
src
The game is extremely fast-paced and death comes so quickly that I found myself tiring of repeating the same thing over and over again just to get one-shotted and need to return all the way to the start of the floor before having a chance to try again. Thankfully there are almost non-existent load times because I would have quite much earlier than I did if this wasn't the case.
After about an hour and a half I thought I would be getting better at it but there really isn't much to be said about the controls here. You move around with the control stick, pick up items with one button and bash/stab/shoot enemies with the other one. That's all there is to it.
I think this would be a speed-runner's dream
This person has clearly played the game far more than I did an has a working knowledge of where everyone on every level is. This is not the level of dedication I have towards any game so my experience was a lot different than his. He is incredible.
Overall I can't really recommend this game to anyone other than hardcore speedrunners. The story is fantastic and the music is pretty epic as well. The graphics are intentionally old-school and the violence is off the charts. I run the risk of sounding like a broken record but the first hour of gameplay failed to capture my attention enough to actually git gud enough to continue playing.
For hardcore gamers only
Games I have already tried in my journey to play at least 1-hour of every PS-Plus Extra game
- Gravity Rush 2 (action adventure game with fast movement in every direction. It has RPG elements and a pretty decent story. Make it past the first hour and the game really opens up. Recommended)
- Oddworld: Soulstorm (2D+ platformer with great graphics, sound, and voice-acting. Unfortunately it is plagued with a lot of repetition. Recommended for a few hours)
- Bee Simulator (sort of like a flying FPS game but with no combat. It's graphically impressive and filled with tidbits of knowledge about bees... unfortunately it is repetitive as hell and gets boring fast. Not recommended)
- Prison Architect (a prison management simulator game similar to SimCity. It's a great game but just like most simulation games, it just isn't very playable using a controller. Not recommended on PS4)
- Hotline Miami 2 (a top-down shooter with gruesome violence and terrible AI. Would be great for speedrunners and hardcore gamers. Casuals like me are going to quickly tire with it)
All other games I have already reviewed (there are a lot of them)