Brigador Killers Review Summary

Great music and exciting infantry and mech combat with varied vehicles and weapons are undermined by an ugly UI, rough edges, and a deficient inventory system.

Music and soundtrack are praised: Players consistently praise the excellent music and soundtrack, with some calling it the best EBM in a decade. This high praise appears repeatedly in feedback.

Vehicles and weapon variety: Players appreciate the abundance of vehicles and weapons, noting that up-armoring vehicles and progressing to powerful weapons feels rewarding. The sizable arsenal and vehicle customization add to the fun.

Infantry and mech combat exciting: Foot combat is intense, hyper-visceral, and reminiscent of old GTA, while mech action is fun and twin-stick controls are excellent. Players enjoy the variety of combat experiences.

Core mechanics are solid: Reviewers highlight the solid core mechanics, superb gameplay, and solid mechanics, indicating a strong foundation for the game. This positive reception is spread across multiple clusters.

Story and lore are strong: The story and world-building receive high marks for being top-notch, engaging, and unique, with interesting lore and substantial dialogue. Players find the narrative substantial and engaging.

UI is ugly and unintuitive: Multiple clusters describe the UI as messy, bare-bone, poorly designed, and non-intuitive, with oversized icons and a debug console look. These issues are compounded by a lack of basic features like a take-all button or split stack.

Many placeholders and rough edges: Players frequently report placeholder images, sprites, and assets, giving the game a tech demo feel. The presence of numerous placeholders and rough edges undermines immersion and polish.

Inventory system is deficient: The inventory lacks basic functionality such as take-all, split stack, and unloading weapons, making looting a chore. Dragging items is confusing, and the system has been criticized despite claimed years of development.

Numerous bugs and crashes: Players encounter constant bugs, including collision issues, shadow rendering problems, and audio glitches, along with frequent crashes. These technical problems disrupt gameplay and indicate a lack of stability.

Mission design is problematic: Several missions have unclear objectives, require foreknowledge, and suffer from bugs like stuck players or glitched turrets. This leads to frustrating experiences and repetitive attempts.

Extraction shooter elements present: The core loop involves entering areas, looting supplies, and using spoils to improve gear. Loadout choices are crucial, and the game plays like a singleplayer extraction shooter.

Infantry combat is core: The game emphasizes on-foot infantry combat, with mechs and vehicles playing a secondary role. Players often engage enemies directly, sometimes running up to punch them.

Sequel to Brigador: This game is a direct sequel to Brigador, following the original's legacy. It continues the story but shifts gameplay mechanics significantly.

Gameplay differs from original: Combat mechanics have been reworked, moving away from the original's focus on mech destruction. The sequel introduces more grounded quests and varied approaches.

Isometric twin-stick shooter: The game is presented from an isometric perspective with twin-stick shooter controls. This is a defining characteristic of the gameplay experience.

Shadow rendering causes artifacts: Multiple reports describe shadow glitches, including shadows appearing on screen edge objects during movement and a single light casting five parallel shadows. These issues create visible graphical artifacts that affect visual experience.

Game crashes reported: A player reported crashes during gameplay. While only one cluster mentions this, stability issues are critical for user experience and should be prioritized for investigation.

Wait for Early Access maturity: Multiple reviewers advised waiting until the Early Access version matures, indicating the current state lacks polish or content. One specifically recommended not bothering now, while another suggested trying again in a year.

Encourages purchasing despite Early Access: Several reviewers recommend buying now to support the developers, acknowledging the Early Access state. This reflects a belief in the game's potential and a desire to aid its development.

Worth buying at price: Two reviewers found the game a good value for its current price, praising it as worth the money. This suggests the cost is appropriate for the content offered, despite Early Access status.

Needs more work before investment: Some reviewers felt the game requires significant development before they can sink more hours into it. This points to a lack of content or polish currently.

Replay first game instead: One reviewer suggested replaying the first Brigador game rather than buying this one, implying dissatisfaction with the sequel's current state. This highlights a comparison to the predecessor.

The game presents persistent early friction through a horrible tutorial, weak weapons, and unclear aiming, and even after completing the campaign players report missing features and disappointment, with no evidence of a later fun anchor.

Friction: horrible tutorial; weak early weapons; unclear aiming cursor; softlock aiming mechanics; slow progression curve; no vehicle, ammo, or gun even after campaign completion.

Veteran Evangelist: Deep familiarity with core mechanics, likely tactical and methodical. Motivation: Supporting the developer and sharing the game with friends. Stance: buy.

Lore-Driven Combatant: Selective about weapons based on lore, strategic and narrative-conscious. Motivation: Immersing in the narrative and roleplaying faction loyalty. Stance: buy.

Comparisons to Brigador series: Reviewers frequently compare this game to the Brigador series, noting it is a sequel but plays differently due to not being mech-bound. Some prefer Brigador's refined quality, while others see this as a different experience.

Early access concerns and expectations: Multiple reviewers noted the game is in early access, with some finding it worse than the demo but others expecting improvements over time. There is also concern about its long development period since 2019.

Positive gameplay and content: Reviewers find the game fun with lots to do, including base upgrade missions after the prologue. It is considered a bargain and offers a taste of Fallout 1 and 2.

Early access potential and niche appeal: Some reviewers see the game as a small microcosm of what is to come, but note it is not for everyone. The developer is Stellar Jockeys.

Developer controversy and response: There is controversy regarding the lead artist being accused of bigotry, and the developer's strategy seems to be ignoring the issue, which may affect player perception.