Info about Mega City Force:

Official game description:
Wishlist now and try the Demo!
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About the Game
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_Hello, Agent. Mega City needs your services. Are you ready to uphold the law?_  
The crime is out of control, the streets are not clean. There are criminals and psychopaths everywhere, ready to cut anyone’s throat. A corrupt megacorporation squeezes the life out of the citizens, seeking to establish control all over the city.  
Only the incorruptible agents of Mega City Task Force stand fast before the crime wave that consumed the city and threatens to overwhelm society.  
Choose your agent and dive into a deadly battle against the criminals and brutal bosses to unleash the beast of justice in the darkest corners of the city.  
**DISCOVER THE MUSIC OF DROID BISHOP, TIMECOP1983, SUBLUNAR, AND MORE!**
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Defeat bosses to collect iconic synth-wave tracks on audio cassettes. Set up a special audio player within the Headquarters to immerse yourself in their mesmerizing melodies.  
**HARDCORE GAMEPLAY WITH TONS OF WEAPONS AND UPGRADES**
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Shoot, punch and use your abilities to destroy enemies at every level where you will find special boxes containing various weapons. Remember to collect money from enemies, they can be spent at the store to get new equipment and special contracts.  
Each level and every enemy is designed to hone your skills by utilizing each agent’s arsenal to its fullest, ensuring you will fight crime in the most effective way possible. Quick reaction and tactical thinking will be required to succeed.
**EVERY AGENT BOASTS A UNIQUE TACTICAL PLAYSTYLE**
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Become a brutal killing machine like a **Cyborg** who has three weapon slots, improved armor, and a magnetic pulse that interrupts attacks and stun enemies.  
Take on the classic role of a **Rookie** using a tactical dodge and stun grenade.  
Turn into a fast and extremely dangerous **Scout** with a lightweight frame and optical camouflage staying invisible to enemies and using her laser sight to inflict critical damage when the time is right.  
These are just a few of the agents available from the start. Unlock more characters with unique tactical abilities as you go!
**PIXEL ART VISUAL STYLE INSPIRED BY THE 80S AND THE 90S ACTION MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES**
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Do you remember the good old days when tough action heroes dispatched enemies with cool moves to a banging soundtrack? The entire game is imbued with the same retro spirit. Each pixel, each gun, and each item were crafted to give you that nostalgic feeling, from retro dudes for retro dudes with true love.  
**HIGH REPLAYABILITY, A ROBUST PROGRESSION SYSTEM, AND PROCEDURALLY GENERATED LEVELS**
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What happens when crime is vanquished? It comes back with a vengeance. Completing the game for the first time unlocks a new difficulty and more loadouts with instantly recognizable legendary outfits. Uphold the law in style.
**COMMITTED TO REDUCING AND OFFSETTING OUR EMISSIONS DURING GAME DEVELOPMENT**
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Midgard has partnered with Undreamed Games to help us track, reduce, and mitigate our emissions during the development of Mega City Force. They took into account our electricity consumption, purchases, and business travel, among others, to estimate our carbon footprint and environmental impact. We then offsetted 2x of our carbon emissions by purchasing a verified carbon credit.

Release date: 28 Jul, 2023

Categories: Roguelike, Single-player, Twin-stick Shooter, Bullet-hell, Character Progression, Weapon Customization, Procedural Generation


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Addictive & Replayable Gameplay (weight 0.94): Players consistently praise the game's core gameplay loop, finding it highly addictive and replayable. The balance of challenge and accessibility, combined with smooth controls and mechanics, contributes to a very enjoyable experience that keeps players coming back.
- Strong Retro 80s Aesthetic (weight 0.47): The game's strong 80s retro aesthetic, including its visual style, movie references, and overall vibe, is a major highlight. This nostalgic presentation is well-executed and deeply appreciated by players.
- Solid Roguelite Twin-Stick Shooter (weight 0.47): The game is well-received as a fun and challenging roguelite/twin-stick shooter. It successfully delivers on the core mechanics of these genres, providing an engaging experience for fans.
- Exceptional Soundtrack & Music (weight 0.47): The game's soundtrack receives overwhelming praise for its quality, diversity, and ability to perfectly complement the game's atmosphere. Many players consider the music a standout feature that enhances their enjoyment.
- Varied & Satisfying Weapons (weight 0.42): The variety and feel of the weapons are highly praised. Players enjoy the distinctiveness of each weapon and find the gunplay satisfying and fun, contributing significantly to the combat experience.
- Diverse Characters & Playstyles (weight 0.4): The game offers diverse playstyles through its unique characters and their distinct skills and starting weapons. This variety encourages experimentation and adds significant replay value, as each character feels different to master.
- Unique & Challenging Bosses (weight 0.15): Boss encounters are highlighted as quick, fun, and challenging. Players appreciate the uniqueness of each boss and the strategic thinking required to defeat them, along with the rewards they offer.
- Effective Melee & Projectile Deflection (weight 0.11): The melee attack system is noted for its interesting mechanics, particularly the ability to deflect projectiles. Mastering this feature adds depth and viability to close-quarters combat.
- Unique & Uncomplicated Vibe (weight 0.1): The game is appreciated for its unique identity and lack of unnecessary elements or messaging. It stands on its own merits without relying on rehashed concepts or big-name associations.
- Similar to Nuclear Throne (weight 0.08): The game shares similarities with Nuclear Throne, appealing to fans of that title while also establishing its own distinct identity. It successfully scratches a similar gameplay itch without being a direct copy.
- Destructible Environment Elements (weight 0.08): The game features partially destructible environments, allowing players to interact with objects like cars and barrels to cause explosions. This adds a dynamic element to combat and level design.
- Enemy & Boss Drops (weight 0.07): Enemies and bosses drop various items, including weapons and collectible soundtrack cassettes. This provides incentives for combat and exploration, adding to the game's progression.

Common complaints:
- Unfair Difficulty & Frustrating Combat (weight 0.97): The game's difficulty is widely criticized as unfair and unbalanced, leading to frustrating and enraging experiences. Players frequently encounter overpowered enemies, cheap deaths from off-screen attacks, and stun-locking mechanics, particularly in early levels, making progression feel arbitrary rather than skill-based.
- Limited Content & Repetitive Gameplay (weight 0.86): Players report a significant lack of content, leading to repetitive gameplay and quick boredom. The game is perceived as too short, with limited variety in levels, enemies, and character progression, failing to offer a true roguelike experience with meaningful unlocks or replayability.
- Ineffective Melee Combat (weight 0.54): Melee combat is consistently described as ineffective and punishing. Players find melee weapons to be low-reward, high-risk due to short range, low damage, and a restrictive stamina system, making them largely useless against ranged enemies and often leading to instant death.
- Poor Weapon & Ammo Management (weight 0.4): Weapon and ammo management systems are problematic. Players report issues with insufficient ammo, random drops, and a lack of in-game tools to compare or manage weapons effectively, hindering strategic play and forcing reliance on luck.
- Unsatisfying Upgrade System (weight 0.17): In-game upgrades are largely seen as unimpactful and uninteresting. Many upgrades offer negligible improvements or are too situational, failing to provide a meaningful sense of progression or power increase during runs.
- Annoying Camera Movement (weight 0.15): Camera movement issues, including jitter, tremors, and screen shake, are reported to cause discomfort and annoyance. The lack of smooth scrolling and the camera's response to mouse movement negatively impact the visual experience.
- Unpolished Core Design (weight 0.14): Some players express dissatisfaction with the game's overall design, including its art style, controls, and core mechanics. The game is perceived as lacking depth and polish, suggesting a rushed or unrefined development process.
- Conflicting Game Mechanics (weight 0.1): The game's mechanics are perceived as contradictory, with a high player fragility clashing with the difficulty of acquiring useful items. The heavy reliance on random number generation (RNG) for drops and enemy composition makes runs feel less skill-based and more luck-dependent.
- Character Imbalance (weight 0.1): Character balance is questioned, with many characters feeling weak or flimsy compared to the starting character. This imbalance affects the perceived difficulty, even in 'casual' modes.

Gameplay feedback:
- Challenging Roguelike Gameplay (weight 0.65): The game offers a significant challenge, especially in Classic mode, and is described as a bullet-hell roguelike. While it can be very difficult, particularly at the start, a Casual mode with checkpoints is available for less experienced players.
- Extensive Weapon Variety (weight 0.35): The game boasts a large arsenal of over 100 weapons and upgrades, offering significant variety in combat. Weapons have different characteristics, rarities, and can be augmented with various effects, though upgrades are not permanent.
- Short, Randomly Generated Levels (weight 0.3): The game features a relatively short structure, consisting of five main levels or sectors, each with multiple rooms and a boss. Levels are randomly generated, contributing to replayability despite the limited number of stages.
- Varied Enemy Types (weight 0.26): Enemies are diverse in type, fighting style, and weaponry, often dropping essential resources like ammo, cash, and health. They employ varied attack patterns, including flanking and rushing, and some later enemies are armored or have special abilities.
- Melee Combat Mechanics (weight 0.16): Melee combat is present, serving as a last resort or for breaking crates. Melee attacks consume stamina and can be challenging to master, with the option to throw melee weapons or use a gun for a melee smash.
- Shop System Between Levels (weight 0.13): Between levels, players can access a shop to purchase weapon upgrades, new guns, ammunition, and take on additional challenges. The availability of upgrades in the shop is influenced by RNG.
- Player Achievements & Updates (weight 0.08): Specific player achievements are noted, such as defeating the final boss on Normal difficulty. Recent updates have added new content, including characters, secret levels, and weapons.
- Similar to Other Roguelikes (weight 0.06): The game's gameplay is frequently compared to other popular roguelike shooters like Nuclear Throne and Enter the Gungeon, suggesting a familiar yet distinct experience within the genre.

Performance notes:
- Stable performance across platforms (weight 0.07): Players consistently report excellent performance, with the game maintaining a stable 60 FPS across all levels. It also runs smoothly on the Steam Deck, both docked and undocked, indicating good optimization for portable play.

Recommendations:
- Mixed but positive recommendation (weight 0.72): Player sentiment on recommendation is mixed but generally positive, especially for fans of specific genres. Many recommend it for its difficulty and quick runs, while some express reservations about its current state or content depth compared to similar titles.
- Better value on sale (weight 0.14): Many players suggest that the game's current price point is too high and recommend purchasing it during a sale or at a discount. They feel a lower price would offer better value for money.
- Appeals to action movie fans (weight 0.07): The game strongly appeals to players who enjoy the aesthetic and themes of 80s and 90s action movies. It also resonates with fans of games like Broforce, indicating a specific niche appeal.
- Prefers focused design (weight 0.03): One reviewer prefers the game's current focused design over a broader scope that might compromise quality. This suggests an appreciation for its core mechanics.
- Likely to complete game (weight 0.02): One player anticipates completing the game with at least one character, indicating a level of engagement sufficient for a full playthrough.

Other player notes:
- Appeals to roguelike fans (weight 0.11): The game is frequently compared to other bullet-hell roguelikes like Nuclear Throne and Enter the Gungeon, indicating it appeals to fans of this specific genre and retro-styled shooters.
- Ongoing content development (weight 0.09): There's some confusion about the game's update status, but the developers are actively creating new content, including planned free DLC, suggesting ongoing support.
- Needs better tutorial (weight 0.06): Some players find the initial progression unclear and would benefit from a more detailed tutorial, especially regarding hub locations.
- Controller compatibility issues (weight 0.06): There are issues with non-standard controller compatibility, and keyboard/mouse controls are generally preferred for their fluidity.
- Customizable visual effects (weight 0.06): The game offers graphical options to disable spherical display, scanline effects, and CRT filters, allowing players to customize their visual experience.
- Minor bugs reported (weight 0.04): Numerous minor problems have been reported and logged on the game's forums, indicating a need for bug fixes.
- Disable mouse screen movement (weight 0.04): An option to disable mouse movement of the screen would improve player control and comfort.
- Check progression settings (weight 0.04): Players should be aware of settings that can prevent restarting at level one after death, suggesting a need for clearer guidance on progression options.
- Price point concern (weight 0.04): Some players feel the full price is a bit high given the game's short speedrun time, despite its respectable replay value.
- Impressive solo development (weight 0.03): The fact that the game was developed by a single person is highly impressive to reviewers.
- Complex character unlock (weight 0.03): There is a specific, somewhat complex method to unlock the hidden character 'Outlaw,' involving finding items and interacting with environmental elements.
- Basic plot premise (weight 0.03): The game's plot involves villains overwhelming the surroundings, with the local police department serving as the last hope.
- More gore requested (weight 0.03): One player suggested increasing the amount of blood or gore for a more intense experience.
- Review bombing detected (weight 0.02): This review appears to be part of a 'review bombing' effort, expressing a political stance rather than constructive feedback on the game itself.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.28): Players felt satisfied due to the game's high quality, addictive gameplay, and strong replayability. Specific elements like the soundtrack, art style, sound design, diverse weapons, and well-designed characters consistently contributed to this positive emotion. The game's balanced difficulty and effective updates also enhanced player enjoyment.
- Frustration (weight 0.19): Frustration stemmed primarily from the game's difficulty, often perceived as unfair due to issues like stun-lock, cheap deaths, and unbalanced enemies. Players also expressed annoyance with specific mechanics such as ineffective melee combat, limited weapon utility, and problematic UI. Technical issues like bugs and poor camera movement further contributed to this negative experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.17): Disappointment arose from the game's perceived lack of content, short length, and repetitive gameplay, which did not meet player expectations for a full release. Issues with procedural generation leading to bland levels, ineffective melee weapons, and a lack of meaningful progression also contributed to this sentiment. Some players felt the game failed to stand out or deliver on its potential.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.09): Players experienced enjoyment from the game's core gameplay loop, high replay value, and diverse character options. The music, pixel art, and overall retro aesthetic were frequently cited as major contributors to a fun and engaging experience. The game's ability to provide a good time-killer also added to its appeal.
- Excitement (weight 0.07): Excitement was generated by the game's overall quality, addictive challenge, and anticipation for new content. Players were thrilled by cool graphics, neat character designs, and the retro vibe. The potential for discovery and engaging character building also fueled this positive emotion.
- Joy (weight 0.06): Joy was a result of the game's inherent fun and addictiveness, making it easy to pick up and play. The appealing atmosphere and soundtrack, along with the enjoyment of specific characters and weapons, contributed to a generally positive and happy experience for players.
- Anger (weight 0.03): Anger was primarily caused by frustrating game design choices, such as forced social play and unbalanced enemies. Players also expressed anger over game-breaking bugs and updates that negatively impacted their experience. This emotion often arose from a sense of unfairness or a significant disruption to gameplay.
- Hope (weight 0.02): Hope was expressed by players looking forward to future improvements, optimizations, and expansions of game content. This indicates a belief in the game's potential and a desire for ongoing developer support to address current shortcomings and add new features.
- Boredom (weight 0.02): Boredom stemmed from the game's monotony, lack of content, and repetitive gameplay loop. Players found that the upgrades and contract systems did not provide enough variety to sustain interest over time, leading to a feeling of staleness.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.01): Nostalgia was triggered by the game's ability to evoke memories of classic games and movies, particularly its resemblance to 'Nuclear Throne'. This connection to past experiences created a warm, familiar feeling for players.
- Addiction (weight 0.01): Addiction was driven by the game's compelling moment-to-moment gameplay and highly engaging loop, making players constantly want to jump back in for more. This indicates a strong, almost compulsive desire to continue playing.
- Love (weight 0.01): Love for the game was a strong, overarching positive sentiment, often tied to its classic vibe. This indicates a deep appreciation and affection for the overall experience the game provides.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Confusion arose from misleading game elements, such as the 'casual mode' not meeting expectations, and a lack of clarity regarding the game's overall identity or genre. This suggests a disconnect between player understanding and game design.
- Challenge (weight 0.01): The feeling of challenge was specifically linked to the game's difficulty, which some players compared to 'Dark Souls'. This indicates an appreciation for a demanding and rigorous gameplay experience.
- Love/hate (weight 0): Love/hate describes conflicted feelings about the game, indicating that players experienced both strong positive and negative emotions simultaneously. This suggests a complex relationship with the game, where its enjoyable aspects are balanced by frustrating ones.
- Confidence (weight 0): Confidence was expressed by players who felt capable of completing the game despite considering themselves casual players. This indicates a sense of empowerment and belief in their own abilities within the game's difficulty curve.
- Annoyance (weight 0): Annoyance was caused by the game's difficulty, suggesting a milder form of frustration where the challenge was more irritating than deeply upsetting. This indicates a minor but persistent negative reaction to the game's demanding nature.
- Curiosity (weight 0): Curiosity was sparked by the concept of global progression within the game, indicating a desire to explore and understand how player actions contribute to a larger, overarching system. This suggests an interest in meta-game elements.
- Concern (weight 0): Concern was raised due to a perceived lack of content, indicating worries about the game's longevity and replayability. This suggests a desire for more depth and variety to sustain interest over time.
- Anticipation (weight 0): Anticipation was felt by players prior to the game's release, indicating excitement and eagerness for the game to become available. This reflects pre-launch hype and expectations.}