- Unique, appealing comic book art style
- Excellent and replayable level design
- Fun, satisfying, and engaging combat system
- High-quality voice acting adds to immersion
- Rewarding exploration uncovers hidden secrets
- Melee combat feels clunky and unfocused
Verdict
Mostly positive
Summary
Positive 96% · Negative 4%. Score: 4 / 100
Positives:
- The game features a unique and appealing comic book-inspired art style, often described as noir or pulp, with well-integrated cutscenes and attention to detail. This visual style is a major draw for many players, creating a memorable and immersive experience.
- The game's levels are well-designed, offering multiple paths, secrets, and options for approaching objectives. This encourages exploration, experimentation, and replayability, allowing players to choose between stealth or action-oriented gameplay.
- The combat system is engaging and satisfying, with a variety of options for defeating enemies, including melee, ranged, and environmental interactions. The game provides a sense of power and control, making combat enjoyable and rewarding.
- The game features excellent voice acting and sound design, enhancing the atmosphere and immersion. The voice performances are often praised for their quality and fitting tone, adding depth and humor to the world.
- The game successfully captures the essence of old-school boomer shooters while adding its own unique elements. This evokes a sense of nostalgia for classic games and provides a refreshing experience for fans of the genre.
Negatives:
- Several reviewers criticize the melee combat, describing it as clunky, unfocused, and lacking impact. Some found it too easy to exploit, while others struggled with its mechanics. There's a general sense that melee combat needs improvement and tuning.
- Many reviewers mention the game's short length and lack of content as a major drawback. This is often attributed to its Early Access status, with players expressing a desire for more levels, episodes, and overall content to justify the purchase. The game's incompleteness is a recurring concern.
- Several reviewers found the game's difficulty unbalanced. Some felt it was too easy, even on the hardest settings, while others, especially at the beginning, found it frustrating. There's a desire for more challenging difficulty options and better balancing of combat mechanics.
- The limited inventory system, with only three slots, is a frequent complaint. Reviewers find it restrictive, especially with ammo and consumables taking up valuable space, leading to constant backtracking and limiting playstyle options. This is a major source of frustration for many players.
- Several reviewers mention issues with enemy AI, such as illogical behavior, poor reactions to player actions, and getting stuck on terrain. Additionally, weapons dropped by enemies often break or have no ammo, discouraging direct combat and feeling artificial.
Gameplay:
- Levels offer multiple paths and encourage exploration. Players can choose stealth, combat, or a mix, with options like parkour and hidden routes. The open-ended design promotes replayability and creative problem-solving.
- Players can use almost anything as a weapon, from frying pans to trash cans. The limited inventory of three slots forces strategic choices and encourages improvisation. Weapon durability encourages using the environment.
- Melee weapons break quickly, encouraging players to scavenge and adapt. The melee combat system is simple but offers directional attacks. Guns and ammo are scarce, making melee a primary combat option.
- The game incorporates immersive sim elements, offering freedom in how players approach situations. This includes interactive environments, hidden passages, and creative problem-solving.
- The game features a distinctive comic book style with motion comics and cutscenes. This visual style is a key part of the game's presentation and atmosphere.
Performance:
- The game's performance is inconsistent. While many players report smooth gameplay and optimization, especially on devices like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally, others experience lag, frame rate drops, freezes, and crashes, even on systems meeting the recommended specs. Initial performance issues were patched.
- Loading times are generally considered good, with quick saves being fast. However, some players feel that level loading, especially quick loading, could be faster, particularly when compared to other games.
- There are reports of audio issues, including audio cutting out during cutscenes and music being absent in certain levels. The missing music created an unintended atmosphere in one instance.
- Players have reported specific bugs, such as characters getting stuck in animations or the map disappearing after loading a save. These issues sometimes require a restart to resolve.
- Some players have encountered performance issues in sections with a high number of enemies, as well as issues with water-based enemies attacking when they shouldn't be present.
Recommendations:
- The game is highly recommended by reviewers, with many citing its fun gameplay, unique style, and promising potential. Many suggest purchasing it now, even in early access, due to its current low price and the expectation of future content updates and price increases. The game is considered a great value for its cost.
- Many reviewers acknowledge the game's early access status and express hope that the developers will continue to improve and expand upon the existing content. Some suggest waiting for further updates before fully committing to the game, while others are willing to support the developers now in anticipation of future improvements.
- Reviewers express strong anticipation for future content, particularly the upcoming episodes, indicating a positive overall experience with the initial release. Many are eager to see where the story goes and how the game evolves with further development.
- The game is recommended for fans of specific genres and games, including immersive sims like Deus Ex and Dishonored, retro FPS games like Doom, and noir-themed media. Reviewers highlight the game's unique blend of styles and gameplay mechanics, making it appealing to players with diverse preferences.
- Some reviewers express extremely positive sentiments, calling the game a masterpiece and giving it perfect scores. However, these reviews often lack specific details and may be hyperbolic, reducing their overall constructiveness.
Miscellaneous:
- The game is in early access and is being released episodically, with only the first episode (containing around 5 levels) currently available. The developers are actively updating the game, with more content planned for the future.
- The game is published by New Blood Interactive, known for publishing retro-inspired shooters. This association sets certain expectations regarding the game's style and gameplay.
- The story is interesting so far, and the reviewer is looking forward to future updates.
- The developers plan to release a level editor with Steam Workshop support before the second episode. This feature would allow players to create and share their own levels, extending the game's content and replayability.
- The game features the ability to pick up rats.
